Front and Back Stages: Goffman applied to the Food Industry

The topic of last class consisted of a discussion on the food industry and the types of advertising they engage in to promote their product and hide its often grisly origins.  The commentator and creator of Food Inc. described a disconnect between consumers and producers of food.  We as consumers are no longer aware of where our food is coming from and the processes involved in creating it.  One way the food industry creates this disconnect is with the brand images they show.  Their product is often described as "farm fresh" and has a picture of a traditional farm with a red barn and green fields.  This is simply not the case.

Interestingly enough, Erving Goffman, a noted sociologist, was brought into the conversation.  And many of his thoughts on impression management can be directly related to the food industry and their attempts to hide their true image.  Within impression management is the concept of  the front stage and back stage of anyone's personality.  The front stage consists of a highly managed impression that one uses with friends and in daily contact to provide a desirable image to others.  The back stage is an area where one can relax their impression management and act as they truly are.  The food industry uses a front stage impression to convey a message to consumers about their product but their backstage is highly industrialized and not ideal for most consumers.  They are a two-faced industry that promotes a highly superficial and downright erroneous image of themselves.

I feel it is imperative to once again reconnect with the origins of the food we eat.  It is important to shorten this gap between us and the food industry for regulation purposes and to forecast any possible detrimental affects it might have on our society.

Advertising and the "child obesity epidemic."

After watching the documentary Food Inc. I began to wonder about how food advertising affects its viewers and what types of advertisements are most prevalent.  And according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation a vast majority of the ads that kids see on television are for products that nutritionists are telling us to eat less of.  The study found that children under eight see one advertisement for nutrition or fitness for every 26 food ads and for preteens, it's one advertisement for every 48 food ads for preteens.  The ratio is worst of all for teens; seeing one health conscious ad for every 130 unhealthy food ads.

The plethora of unhealthy food advertisements that children are subject to may be a perpetuating cause for the child obesity epidemic.  Television has become so ingrained in our society that it is no longer a luxury of entertainment but part of our daily existence.  A normalcy that is now overlooked.  These young children are bombarded by these unhealthy food advertisements a majority of the time and begin to internalize the message as it becomes part of their routine; making it a habit.

However, there is hope.  Recently, a task force of lawmakers, FCC commissioners, broadcasters, and food and beverage executives conducted a meeting as policy makers are putting increasing pressure and accountability on broadcasters to address obesity.  Ten major food and beverage marketers, including McDonalds, voluntarily agreed to devote at least half of their advertisements to promote healthier diets and lifestyles for children.

As awareness about child obesity and accountability towards marketers increases, let us hope that progressive steps will be made to educate our youth about healthy living.  We are truly facing an epidemic that must be addressed through the forum that helped to perpetuate the problem in the first place.  It falls on marketers and advertisers to set the bar to reverse their image and re-inform the public and specifically our youth about healthy food options.

Where Does Rape Fit in to Advertising

I recently discovered some controversial ads by Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana.  Both ads contain a single scantily clad female surrounded by shirtless males in aggressive stances.  The public backlash of these photos describes them as promoting violence against women and rape.  I realize that the United States is known for its proliferation of sex in the media and advertising.  It is part of our cultural history and is now a societal norm.  But where do we cross the line -- some would agree, with the Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabanna ads.

It is the American ideology to push the envelope and go where no one has gone before.  That is what makes America what it is today.  But I would have to agree that these ads push the line between art and sadism.  Even if rape and violence against women is an extreme view (which isn't a stretch) of this photo, it definitely is promoting aggressive hegemonic masculinity and male dominance over women.  This seems odd in an era where women have almost reached parity with men in terms of the wage and gender gaps in our society.  However, maybe the shock is what these advertisers were looking for.  The motivation might have been to create controversy in order to promote their name, but unfortunately not their image.

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2007/03/stefano_gabbano.html
http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2010/10/calvin-klein-ads-banned-for-promoting-rape.html