While crafting their ad campaigns targeted directly at children, marketers understand that the key to success is kid's pester power. This came as a revelation a while back after watching a popular candy commercial with my baby sister who is barely five years old. I could not help but notice the tim...
While crafting their ad campaigns targeted directly at children, marketers
understand that the key to success is kid's pester power. This came as a revelation a while
back after watching a popular candy commercial with my baby sister who is barely five
years old. I could not help but notice the timing of the ads that conveniently placed in
intervals that interrupted cartoon hours. Every time the candy advert popped on screen,
my baby sister would nag me to take her to the mall. Eventually, I caved into her
demands simply because I wanted the nagging to stop. It then occurred to me that the
candy company not only anticipated this but also orchestrated with a masterly finesse. In
a characteristical consumer economy, the society has become indifferent to issues of
individual health, and we are now more concerned with chasing material things. As a
result, ignorance of the right dietary combination has made us vulnerable to lifestyle
diseases that could otherwise be avoided with the right nutritional approach. In my
opinion, since this is a question of mass consumerism, the most appropriate response is to
introduce a harsh tax regime for lifestyle foodstuff to control their flow.
The Benfits of Taxation in Reducing Sugar Intake
Eunice Sanchez-Mata claims that the rate at which our children are consuming
sugar is distressing (para.1). She explains that sugar-sweetened beverages that are
, Surname 2
popular among teenagers’ diets contribute up to 15 percent of their daily calories
(Sanchez-Mata para.1). Incidentally, the fact that the society is seemingly indifferent to
the danger that this heightened sugar consumption causes to the children is utterly sad
and unacceptable. There needs to be a proactive response to this issue. As the author
points out, the most practical solution would entail imposing heavy taxes on foodstuff
that contains high levels of sugar. The rationale behind taxation is to discourage
unnecessary spending while making it that much more difficult to produce a unit of top
sugar commodities. Besides imposing a stringent tax regime, the federal government can
also liaise with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to work towards alternative
regulation means such as enacting by-laws that put a limit on the amount sugary foodstuff
produced.
Sanchez-Mata understands that the move to regulate the flow of sugary foodstuff
and beverages would be extraordinarily difficult given that it is a consumer economy and
key players in the industry have deep pocket connections. Specifically, she notes that the
American beverage Association has strategically placed lobby groups that push their
particular interest in the legislature (Sanchez-Mata para.8). Therefore, containing the
problem would be frustrated by these connections considering the power of special
interests. With the appropriate campaigning and mass awareness, however, it is possible
to regulate the flow of goods. To illustrate this point, she uses data retrieved from the
annals of Berkeley to show how effective taxation has been. “Berkeley’s tax on sugary
drinks resulted in reduced consumption of these unhealthy products” (Sanchez-Mata
para.9). Even with the beverage industry yielding that much power, it is essential to know
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