On Wednesday night I went bowling with a club/mentor group that I’m in. Through that trip I have noticed how manipulated I was into feeling hungrier than I probably actually was. Through a combination of advertisements, placement of buildings, and even just friends, I felt as if I was being manipulated to feel more of my hunger.
To start, we were leaving campus around 6PM, which is a half hour later than when I usually have dinner. There had been a slight pressure to join my friends before bowling. I resisted because I knew there was food at the bowling place we were going, but that didn’t stop me from feeling slightly hungry. As such, I was hungry for a while.
When the Jitney finally came to get us, I was decently hungry. It was there enough to be a slight annoyance, but it was also easy enough to ignore. I spent most of the ride looking out of the window. Most of what we passed at first was rural landscape, so it was easy enough to ignore the hunger. That was, of course, before we hit the urban district. Specifically, the areas with shopping and restaurants. There were suddenly a lot of places advertising for their food. Of course, seeing all of these advertisements reminded me that I was hungry. What was worse was that they seemed to be taunting the fact that I had not eaten right in my face. It did not feel pleasant at all.
Agonizing minutes later, we arrived. The parking lot was a decent size, and had a chunk carved out for another business to exist in. It was McDonalds, the smell of the greasy food that I have sworn off of (except on the occasion where it’s the only option) filling the air. I was getting really hungry by that point.
We proceeded to go inside. Right next to the doorway was the restaurant part. Pizza and pretzels could easily be seen in the glass casings on the counter. The soda machine was also quite visible. (I was really starting to hate the world at this point, if you can’t guess it already.)
We got the bowling shoes and were directed to the lanes towards the end. That where the vending machines are. Above the pins of each lane is part of a long advertisement of not being thirsty and hungry while bowling by depicting food. And everyone there had some sort of food. I felt like I was on the very beginning stages of starving.
We did get food a few minutes into each of our games. I ate more pieces of pizza than usual. (Felt like such a glutton too, thank you very much.)
There is a lot to be said about the pressures of society for making people hungry. For starter, advertisements about food are everywhere. The advertisements create the image of people who are happy because they are eating certain types of food. The foods are usually recognized by our taste buds as something yummy. It’s also said that you will eat more when you’re surrounded by people. (I believe the term that they use in psychology is “social eating” but don’t quote me on that.)
Routine also seemed to be a factor for my hunger. I had eaten later because I had known I was going to be fed at bowling. That doesn’t stop the body from predicting that you’ll eat at your usual time.
It’s hard not to want to eat something when all of these factors pile up against you. But even if only some of them were present, you could feel the pressure placed on you to grab something to eat. It’s somehow a part of our culture to get something to eat, even if you’re barely hungry. The food taste good. The people eating them in advertisements look happy. Don’t we all want to be happy?
I read your post in the middle of the afternoon. Before I read your post, I was not hungry. After I read your post, I was really craving some Diner food. Your post was effective at pointing out the influence of advertising on peoples’ mental states. What’s very interesting is that the mental manipulation of advertising on your mind physically influenced you. Advertising can be pretty powerful. My problem with advertising is that it commonly ends in disappointment. The advertisements make the product look so perfect that my expectations are too high when I buy the product. The product, of course, is not as flawless as the ad makes it out to be, and I end up disappointed. Sometimes, my disappointment leads me to try different brands of food, technology, clothing etc. Therefore, the advertisements for the original product, in a way, ends up driving me away from that product. I realize companies have to advertise products in their ideal states in order to create a market for them, but it is frustrating as a consumer to receive a less-than-ideal product after getting my hopes up for something great.
ReplyDeleteCurbing off of this, not only is our hunger constantly manipulated but our thirst is also. In movie theaters the concession stand is always situated between the entrance and the individual theaters. You may not be hungry when you walk by this but many people stop and grab snacks ‘in case’ they get hungry during the movie (who wants to have to get snacks half-way through and risk missing an important scene?). By placing the concession stand here the movie theaters force us to question if we will need food in the middle of the movie and as consumers, we err on the side of caution; we get the food to be on the safe side. This was also demonstrated with limited edition movies, which we discussed in class (referring to Pirates of the Caribbean). The movie theater really manipulates us, though, by loading salt on our popcorn (which is served at really low prices) in order to make us thirsty. As a result we buy more drinks (which are served at really high prices) and the movie theater makes money.
ReplyDeleteGatorade also manipulates our thirst by creating a really salty drink, which makes us thirstier. We then drink more and as a result, buy more of this drink.
Another example of our thirst being manipulated is in many restaurants/bars. Jack Astor’s used to serve free peanuts in the bar area which got consumers to buy more drinks (which were expensive) because they were so thirsty after eating the salty peanuts. By serving free peanuts, the restaurant manipulated our thirst so we spent more money. This also occurs in Alfie’s, a small restaurant in my town that accomplishes the same thing by serving free and unlimited popcorn to customers. As soon as you sit down in this restaurant you are handed a bowl of popcorn, which is replenished as soon as it looks low. The waitress immediately takes your drink order but waits before delivering your drinks. As a result you are thirsty by the time your drinks come and finish your drink quickly before asking for a new one. Refills aren’t free.