imprinted: kids' brains 'branded' with fast-food logos

[xchrom]

http://www.nationofchange.org/imprinted-kids-brains-branded-fast-food-logos-1359903495



If you think the millions that fast food restaurants spent on commercials don’t have a profound effect on our brains, you may be in for a surprise. It turns out their logos are having a serious impact on the brain—in particular, the brains of children.

According to a study from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center, children’s brains are being branded early on in life—even before they know how to read. While we can’t blame logos solely for the childhood obesity problem, there is little doubt that a the association a child’s brain makes with these logos could be having an effect on their relationship with food.

The study analyzed children’s brains when being shown food logos. The children, ages 10 to 14, were shown 120 logos—60 of them food-related and 60 of them non-food-related. Using MRI technology, the researchers monitored their brains for activity. When shown food logos, the children’s brain activity was significantly increased compared to when they were shown non-food logos.

Specifically, the areas of the brain controlling rewards and appetite control “lit up” when shown the food logos, similarly to how they would if they were shown actual food.

[MadHound]

1. This is nothing new,

They found the same thing in studies thirty and forty years ago. We are awash in corporate propaganda, and most of us succumb to it in one form or another.

The sad thing is, products would be much cheaper if it weren't for the costs of advertising and packaging.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. In the late Fifties/early Sixties, kids knew the manufacturers

of cereals and toys. Get some of us together and we can still sing the jingles to those commercials.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. All the more reason to keep commercial tv away from kids

in the early formative years ( 1-6)
Luckily, I was able to do that for my wee ones.
They got Seasame Street and etc type PBS shows, back when PBS was really non-commercial.

[kudzu22]

3. It's a Pavlovian response

It works on humans as well as dogs. I don't think it's anything sinister about the logos themselves, although I'm sure they're researched heavily to inspire good feelings. If McDonald's signs were just a blue 4x4 post sticking out of the ground, then seeing a blue 4x4 post in the ground would make you think of french fries.

[KittyWampus]

5. I have posted about regulating advertising to children on DU & been attacked.

Advertising to children is regulated in Europe.

Advertising & it's effects is a subject even very progressive don't really grasp well.

[jollyreaper2112]

6. Agreed

Advertising to children is abusive. Ad men should be viewed with the same disgust as pedo priests.