The Food Takeover

As the weeks go on, I find that branding is taking over the way I live. When we discussed about branding in class, I was completely resistant. The majority of my shopping is done at GoodWill . I mean don’t get me wrong, occasionally, I will take a trip to the mall to browse around and see the  latest trends, but, rarely do I ever go nuts.

I have realized that branding gets the best of me is when food is involved.

 The first question that was asked today in class was …

                                    “What do you think food has to do with pop culture?”

To me, it was obvious, because food has become a part of our culture and the food brands that we love are shoved down our throat every day.

Of course, what I failed to realize is easily my “anti-brand” mind is sucked into “The Food Takeover”

            Over spring break, I took a lovely trip down to sunny Miami, Florida.  Every time I turned the corner there was a lovely local spot serving delicious “real” food, but for some reason I would always steer to the nearest, somewhat slummy, McDonald’s. To me, McDonald’s represented familiarity.  I would always know what I was getting and how it would taste. No guessing and to someone who loves food that gave me a sense of security.

              One night I put up enough courage to walk into a local Columbian restaurant instead of the shabby corner McDonald’s. Though a tad bit more expensive, it was clean and they used “real” ingredients to make their “real” burgers. I was amazed! To think I had been eating branded garbage the whole trip was ridiculous to me.