I think fast food is one of those staples that started out as a treat for many of us when we were younger, and then turned into something out of convenience when we got older. The ad campaigns most certainly cemented it into our mind as a refreshing experience, if not an enjoyable novelty with children’s meals or being able to join a club of sorts. At one point, fast food was very affordable, combined with convenience, it was ever a wonder it made it into many of our lives.
That has kind of changed over time. Most of what we consider to be fast food, has had a bit of a face lift. Drab corporate colors on the outside of restaurants with little to inspire the novelty of minimalistic colors. Do we really need dark and light shades of brown, mixed with the occasional hard blue or purple? I suppose if we want branding for prison or a concrete jungle, it will definitely fit in with the theme of urban sprawl.
I think the change started just as minimum wage increased. Digital kiosks started to replace people. The cost of living increased, but technology became a little cheaper and used more in our lives. Menus suddenly became replaced with flatscreen monitors; there came a point even drive through menus were also replaced with this technology. I wouldn’t put it past them to have monitors up against walls or windows that display advertisements. I mean, why not go all out and have something invasive like popup window advertisements from browsers? That would be the next illogical step that a corporation makes in a dystopian world.
It seems the price of fast food went up in light of COVID, much like the cost of living elsewhere. Bad financial management and fiscal outlook helped drive up prices in light of higher cost of living. People suddenly can’t afford fast food anymore and it isn’t really much of a treat, novelty or something out of convenience. It feels more like processed food that isn’t good for you. We already knew that, I suppose marketing is everything.
Are we living in a futuristic dystopia?
So it would seem when advertising becomes an analysis and debate in social networking channels; some might call this living rent free, but I digress. Recently, two popular fast food chains exchanged videos of the CEOs biting into their burgers. An analysis began by people overanalyzing the content. One CEO was said to have charisma and was a seller when he took a big bite of his food; the other was said to have poor acting skills while barely taking a bite. This went so far as to question why the CEO referred to it as their latest product. More entertainment based followers make references to the Simpson’s episode where a certain clown wants to spit out the juice of the burger when the camera shuts down. Sound familiar?
Other fast food chains also got in on the act because it is extremely easy advertising–setup a camera, eat a burger, make a comment about it. Why is it when CEOs eat these burgers, it has to look extremely polished? Why can’t they actually show us themselves eating the burger, in one of their restaurants, after it has been ordered and after it has been assembled by hired hands? Why does this get to live rent free, and why does it get to linger in social media channels? Do people not have anything better to do than veg out as part of social netw…. I mean being jacked into the matrix and arguing?
I will avoid the terms keyboard warrior and rent free. But it seems social networking has anyone and everyone getting in on the act of analyzing a burger. People don’t seem to understand where this is headed, so perhaps the more dystopian approach is in order.
When they enter the restaurant, a government mandated scanner checks to see if they are who they say they are–by either facial recognition, or by RFID and scanning a chip in their ID card. This same technology is used at the kiosk to identify credit and money in the bank. It greets the customer. He enters his menu, and takes small bites. He is being watched on camera by a machine with facial recognition technology. The customer baulks at the first bite. A drone flies up; in a mechanical voice, it asks him if he is not pleased with their product. It asks him if he would like a discount the next time he comes in. Naturally he agrees to this.
However, this soon follows him around as processed food restaurants decide to create a directory and database of would-be offenders. I mean, if they can judge the CEOs, surely the processed food restaurants can also judge their clientele and overanalyze them–everyone gets in on it. Soon this directory is leaked to the dark web. The clientele soon realizes he is caught onto and has to put on an act. These thoughts are in his mind, he knows he has to nod to the drone or be given a bad reputation or bad social mark.
As he leaves the restaurant, he experiences something odd. He sees people have their faces buried into burgers, smiling for fear of bad social marks. More importantly, he is distracted by overhead monitors next to windows and the exit–it is advertising a new product. The camera on the flatscreen recognizes him; he had a good experience, so it is giving him a slight discount because he is a ‘preferred customer’. Advertising at its finest.
I heard at least one person question through the grapevine (read: social networking) whether it was illegal for the CEOs to call it food or not. People find it funny, but it is living rent free due to being plastered through social networking mediums. Yes, the television was no different, but advertising was tied to limited breaks during television shows: people often used these to take make coffee or use the bathroom. The commercials could be invasive with the louder than normal volume (a common tactic), but we were always free to flip the channel. Now with doom scrolling on the rise, we can scroll past it and companies have taken note: they will come up with the most eye-catching design and advertisement they can. Is this not attributed as distraction when it interferes with the original intent of the person scrolling?
But to be settled in controversy and public opinion? This is just ridiculous. Fast food chains are being made political. Soon attributes which are semantics will be attached to them, it has already started with one CEO being called charismatic and the other being called a poor actor. People will remember this, and it will be all because of living rent free, being overanalyzed, and worse, cheap marketing. Remember to smile when those social networking ads try to sell you something, it might just affect your social reputation if you argue against it or analyze it the wrong way.
