And so they should be given the 2000% mark up!
Below is a brief summary of some Sociology on TV – The Foods that make billions – aired BBC2 November 2010
Nice series in conjunction with the OU covering three products – bottled water, yoghurt and breakfast cereal – all three of which were not popular at all 50- years ago. Now they are – thanks to the clever marketing tactics of food industry giants such as Kellogs who have successfully managed to brand themselves into our everyday lives.
I have only watched the second – on cereals – and a number of sociological themes stand out
– Firstly the sheer extent of marketing that lies behind breakfast cereals – these really aren’t nice little products that we freely choose to buy – the programme follows the launch of a new Kellog’s brand – pointing out that £3 million has been earmarked just for advertising that one product.
– Secondly – this demonstrates the power of advertisers to shape, if not create, demand – remember ‘go to breakfast on an egg’? – probably not – because so all pervasive are the cereal brands that cereal is practically synonomous with breakfast today. Apparantly the sale of branflakes went up by 40% in a year after the following jingle –
Thirdly, I’m reminded of that old ‘colonisation of the lifeworld’ chestnut (Habermas) – cereals have branded themselves so effectively into our lives that most of us can’t live without them – they may even be changing the way we actually understand foods – food should now be convenient – we think of ‘grains’ or ‘cereal bars’ as healthy – when they are not necessarily.
Fourthly – The economics behind the scenes is interesting – the difference between a Kilo of grain and a kilo of Kellogs corn flakes represents a 2000% mark up.
Fifth – this serves as a good reminder of the industrial base that lies behind our consumer culture.
Sixth – – I am so glad I don’t work in marketing – what an utter waste of a life – promoting this brand of cereal over that very similar competitor – I wonder if there’s a higher suicide rate amongst people in jobs that are so utterly utterly pointless.
Seventh – for similar reasons – I may as well just point out how utterly uninteresting I find post-modern sociology that revels in describing the different uses that individuals make of the range of products available -I would not actually call this lack-of-analysis sociological.
