Big Food’s big, new trend? Crusading against Big Food
Skeptics say marketing can encourage people to rationalize overeating
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gathered for a free music festival, a crowd waits to see one of the headline attractions — an exhibit about fast-food ingredients.
On display: Beakers of powders and liquids that purportedly go into what is clearly meant to look like a McDonald’s burger. Just below are leaves and spices Chipotle says make up its burrito. As pop bands perform nearby, other festivalgoers play an online game fighting a “galactic battle against artificial ingredients.”
Chipotle’s “Cultivate” festivals encapsulate the food industry’s hottest marketing trend: crusading against Big Food.
While the burrito maker still struggles to recover from an E. coli outbreak last year, its previous success in presenting itself as a reformer has led companies big and small to follow suit as they seek part of the $256 billion Americans spend on fast-food each year. But some are positioning themselves as advocates for change before accomplishing some health goals, and skeptics say even well-intentioned marketing can help people rationalize overeating.
The message is aimed at those who feel the established food system is to blame for poor eating habits, and tries to engage them to feel like allies rather than customers.
Salad chain Sweetgreen’s campaign to fix what it calls the “broken” food system asks people to join its “movement.” Panera last month challenged other chains to make kids’ meals without artificial ingredients, although it hadn’t done so itself at the time.
This kind of marketing has even changed the way the industry’s giants talk about themselves. McDonald’s unveiled a food “philosophy” this summer and announced it was eliminating some unpalatable-sounding ingredients. And Taco Bell, which has been testing a taco shell made of fried chicken, refers to “the farms that make our food.”
While more attention on food issues may be progress, some see it as a way to distract people with feel-good messages.
“It can be well-intentioned marketing, but it’s still marketing,” said Yoni Freedhoff, an obesity expert at the University of Ottawa.
Obesity is being fueled in part by people eating out more often, Freedhoff said, with restaurants typically serving up decadent portions. Touting wholesome ingredients doesn’t address that, he noted, and may even make it worse by blinding people to how much they’re consuming.
Much smaller competitors are joining in. Local, which touts its “revolutionary fast food” in two low-income California locations, says “giant corporations that feed most of America have degraded our communities by maximizing profit.”
“Let’s plant the seeds and wake people up!!!” its website urges, alongside menus listing “Chicken Nugs” for $3. The company did not respond to requests for details about its sourcing.
Taco Bell, which has been testing a taco shell made of fried chicken, refers to “the farms that make our food.”