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Super Size Me is a documentary film released in 2004 in which the director Morgan Spurlock attempts to show the ill effects of McDonald’s. He does this by going on a 30-day, McDonald’s only diet, during which time he eats and drinks only items available on the McDonald’s menu. Through this movie, Spurlock tries to make a twin-fold statement. The first and the most obvious is that Americans are getting fat because of their poor food choices and almost negligible exercise. Second, he also tries to expose McDonald’s unethical behavior as it tries to maximize its profit.
Spurlock’s argument is that as the largest fast-food chain in the US, McDonald’s has more outlets than any other fast-food brand and a high level of recognition even among preschoolers. As such, it has a certain responsibility to its huge customer base, 72% of whom eat at McDonald’s at least once a week. However, instead of serving healthier food at its outlets, McDonald’s intentionally serves high-calorie, high sugar, and highly processed foods, which also tend to be extremely addictive. McDonald’s also spends millions of dollars in advertising and pays special emphasis to attracting children by offering “Happy Meals,” constructing “PlayPlace” at its outlet, and through the use of a clown as its mascot. All these things serve to attract customers at a very young age and keep them addicted to McDonald’s throughout their life. Spurlock also points out that even the supposedly healthier options at McDonald’s, such as the salad, are heavily loaded with calories. And yet, it is extremely difficult for a regular McDonald’s customer to find the nutrition information about its menu. Spurlock argues that McDonald’s is being unethical by intentionally offering high-calorie items in its menu, loading them with addictive ingredients, spending billions of dollars in advertisements and deals to attract children, and not doing enough to educate its customers. By serving this highly processed and unhealthy food, McDonald’s was serving the interest of only its shareholders, and the American citizens were the biggest loser.
Although Spurlock makes a very forceful argument against McDonald’s and other processed foods, his view is obviously biased considering the fact that he came from a family where his mother did all the cooking, and eating out was reserved for special occasions. Also, his girlfriend was a vegan chef, which would have definitely influenced him, despite his argument in favor of eating meat in one scene in the film. Before the start of his 30-day McDonald-only binge, he went through a thorough medical examination which revealed that he was an extremely healthy individual, healthier than an average American. This was obviously the result of a healthy lifestyle, and such a person is bound to be biased against unhealthy fast foods. Another problem was that he squarely blamed McDonald’s and other processed foods companies for the growing rate of obesity in the US. However, every person has the freedom to choose their diet, and he did not highlight the personal responsibility of obese people. Spurlock himself is a prime example of every American citizen’s ability and freedom to resist fast food as he lives in an area where there is a large number of McDonald’s outlets, and yet he managed to live a healthy lifestyle. So even though he put the blame of American obesity on fast food, his argument discounted personal responsibility. In my opinion, it is every retailer’s and food manufacturing company’s ethical responsibility to clearly mention not only all the preservatives but also the processing that a food has been subjected to so as to make the consumers more aware of what they are eating. Genetically modified foods should be clearly indicated. And restaurants should have the nutrition information of all food items easily and openly available. The consumers, on their part, have the ethical responsibility to themselves and the future generations to teach young children healthy lifestyles and minimize their exposure to fast foods and other processed foods items.
Spurlock’s argument that serving citizens unhealthy food so as to maximize profits can also be extended to practically all other processed food companies. Modern retail requires long shelf life since if food items were to spoil easily, it would lead to huge losses for retailers. To ensure that foods stocked in groceries last a long time, companies add huge amounts of preservatives and, in the process, make them unhealthy. Even fresh vegetables are often genetically modified to ensure longevity. If McDonald’s attempt to maximize its profit is unethical, then by the same argument, all retailers who sell any processed food item are also unethical.
The movie’s aim was to expose the ill effects of “McDonaldization” on American society. However, most of the things shown in the movie are common knowledge. However, a couple of things were surprising. The fact that McDonald’s itself considers those who eat at McDonald’s at least once a week as “heavy users” came as a surprise. Also, it was news that many schools serve meals that are not actually freshly cooked but only reheated frozen foods.
The movie can have extremely adverse effects on the company’s business, and the best way to handle the crisis is by highlighting that the diet followed by Spurlock was not a practical diet. McDonald’s could also highlight the case of Don Gorske in the movie, who had consumed over 19,000 Big Macs and yet had a cholesterol level of only 140 to show that the effects of the McDonald’s diet on Spurlock was not typical. McDonald’s could also highlight those food items in its menu which are lower in calories or introduce a few low-calorie items in the menu to counter the negative impact of this movie on its business.
References
Spurlock, M. (2004). Super Size Me. [Motion Picture]. United States: Kathbur Pictures.
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