Fast Food and Modern Culture – Why I Quit Fast Food

I’m sure every one of us has eaten fast food some time in our lives. Some in fact can’t do without it. Some can't help it because of practical reasons (De Maitre's one of them). It’s convenient, fast, good...

“Good?” well, “Are you sure?” will be my response.

I quit fast food immediately after my NS, for a variety of reasons. Although I’ve watched Supersize Me (that was in JC), that didn’t really stop me from eating fast food, though it was truly frightening. It was only until later on, when I thought deeper about the issue of fast food that some ideas and the movie came to mind. I then decided it’s pretty much enough.

So, what are the issues?


First, the quality of food.

It’s fast, it’s convenient, but consider how they get that speed. Large-scale production, standard ingredients, standardised cooking and preparation methods, and standardised packaging.

So while every Mc-Spicy burger in every outlet looks the same, they also look equally revolting.

A very important aspect of food quality was sacrificed for speed: presentation.
For speed, processed food is used (so, don’t take their talk of the “freshest” ingredients too seriously, but I must say at least their fries are good), ingredients are haphazardly prepared and packed, and packed into boring paper wrappers or boxes, not to mention the wastage of resources.

To sum up, wait 1 minute for a squashed, soggy burger with yellowed veggies shredded so thin you wonder whether that’s a failed attempt to cut cost. I wonder how people can be happy with that.


Next, health issues.

Actually, Mac’s is partly right when they say healthy is when energy in = energy out. That’s how people get fat. They eat more than they need, the excess simply becomes fat.

But that’s no excuse for an unbalanced life. You can’t just eat and not expect to get fat without moderation and some form (any form) of exercise.

But there’s more to it than that. The constituents of the food are also important to consider. I’m sure I don’t have to elaborate too much on the dangers of trans-fat.

Of course, trans-fat is everywhere, even in the seemingly harmless margarine. But think about quantity. A thin spread of margarine or a large pack of fries: which is worse?

It then begs the question. Why so popular?

Speed and convenience aside, it has much to do with Mac’s marketing strategy and the social culture in general. Understanding the issue from a business, sociological and psychological perspective can tell us more about the stranglehold than Mac’s, et al have on our food culture.


A Marketing strategy of lifestyle promotion and fringe benefits

Mac’s is typical of the big-brand mega-corporations today; they don’t just sell products, they sell lifestyles. This is evident in the way they advertise, and in the services they provide.

Mac’s has a very comprehensive and powerful advertising strategy. They employ psychologists as consultants for their ads. What Mac’s is able to do, like the other big-brands, is to show that their products are a means to achieving a certain kind of lifestyle. Like for example, the company of friendship, a sense of personal achievement and empowerment, etc.

It appeals to the young in society (the prime target of Mac’s machinations), who have strong desires for company, and empowerment.

This is augmented by the services they provide. Take for example, 24hr delivery. It is catered to people who have company at the wee hours of the night, and tacitly encourage such social behaviour. I remember the days in NS when the others would order Mac’s for supper during night guard duty... well, that’s beside the point, but Mac’s certainly captured this aspect of the market.

Second, you may be surprised when I say Mac’s doesn’t really sell food. It’s the fringe products and freebies that they actually “sell”. From toys to the Coke cups now.

Remember the hype in Singapore when the Hello Kitty toys were given out with meals? The (very) long queues, the huge piles of discarded food outside the outlets. It almost appears that the meals were the freebies instead of the toys.

But for Mac’s, it doesn’t matter whether people buy their meals for the meals or not. People buy, and their strategy worked.


Psychological influences and understanding social patterns

The other thing Mac’s is good at is to change and influence the mindset of people. This is why Supersize Me hasn’t caused the collapse of Mac’s et al.

Take for example my previous point on energy in = energy out. This is an idea catered to the predispositions of the American mindset.

You see, Americans are interesting people. They get fat, and they know they are getting fat because they eat too much, and they want to slim down, but they want to do so, to put it nicely, with the minimum disruption to their dietary and behavioural habits. To put it crudely, they want to slim down by eating.
That’s why there are all the Atkins’ diet and such out there in the market.

Mac’s understand this mindset, and therefore tell the people that they can still have Mac’s as long as they follow this simple rule, which actually means nothing. And they succeeded.


The next point is on capturing the children market. Yes, marketing to children.
It’s insidious, horrible to some people, and I agree. This is because the social ramifications for doing so are immense, far-reaching, and damaging.

Children, as we all know, are susceptible to influences. When certain ideas and influences are taken up by children at critical ages, it’s very difficult for them to “unlearn”. The result is that these ideas are with them till they grow up, and influences their behaviour in their teenage and adult life.

So what are the consequences of advertising to kids, especially the kind of “lifestyle promotion” that Mac’s uses?

Kids will find these lifestyles attractive, and have a cultural and emotional attachment to Mac’s. This is even more insidious than simply being addicted to the food.

The emotional attachment influences their dietary habits, and therefore Mac’s stranglehold on youth food culture is complete. And this is a relationship than is certain to last.


I’m not a conspiracy theorist, so I don’t think Mac’s is aiming for nothing less than world domination. But they do want to achieve the dream of every mega-corp: monopoly.

It’s not interested in the world per se; it’s interested in the control of the world food culture.

Thanks to Evone, Leanne and P3St for ideas for this post.