Game of Thrones: The Battle for Children's Taste Buds
A Quest for Social Liking
In a modern food landscape consisting of Ten Kingdoms *, a battle is on-not for an iron throne, but for the hearts, minds and taste buds of the youngest consumers out there. Like the great house of Westeros, Big Food Industries are locked in a fierce competition to dominate both supermarket aisles and highway billboards.
But in their world, winter means a new generation of consumers ready to be wooed by new food products. Big Food, much like the ambitious lords of the Seven Kingdoms, employ a range of tactics in their quest for dominance
This strategy focuses on product placement, and as said “A Lannister always pays his debts”. Big Food companies invest heavily to ensure their creative banners catch young eyes in every setting.
*These include the following companies — Nestlé, Pepsico, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg's, Mars, Associated British Foods, and Mondelez
This tactic focuses on character licensing. Like dragons adorning the Targaryen sigil, well-known cartoon characters on packaging turn ordinary foods into objects of desire for young consumers.
“Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder”. This strategy focuses on the use of digital food marketing - Big Food industries are placing ads on video games, TV, social media or through influencers.
This focuses on school partnerships. By infiltrating schools, food companies establish their presence in educational institutions either in vending machines or school canteens, much like the Night’s Watch guards the realms of men.
Big food industries wield various marketing weapons to secure their dominance and build brand loyalty from a young age at every level possible.
But have you noticed that at the same time the cost of healthy food is almost 2-3 times more than unhealthy food and beverages?
Unfortunately, we are dealing with a perceived illusion of free choice. At first glance, it seems people are faced with endless options available to choose from, in reality, our choices are not as free as they appear.
The number of choices can create a false sense of freedom. We believe we are making independent decisions based on “our preferences”, but the Big Food industry carefully manipulates our options. Shaping our desires and influencing our purchases.
Even the diversity of options is deceptive. While it seems like we have plenty of brands and flavors to choose from, many of these products are owned by the same few conglomerates.
The night is dark and full of terrors
“Ta ذغ iya” by Sarah Zahr
I know things are getting a bit dark from here, but from Game of thrones series we know that darkness/death doesnt have to be final; Who could forget the scene of Jon Snow rising from the grave in Season 6?
The resurrection scene serves as a powerful metaphor in our real- world battle against the Food Industry’s dominance. We can unite our forces and ultimately defeat the modern “White Walkers” by creating a food environment that is nutritious, affordable and available.
Sources
- Commercial determinants of noncommunicable diseases in the WHO European Region. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2024. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
- Barquera, S. (2021). Restricción del uso de personajes en empaques [PDF]. El Poder del Consumidor. Retrieved from personajes-en-empaques-simon-barquera.pdf P foro restriccion uso d El Poder del Consumidor, 2021
