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The Real Beef About Burger Ads

5/22/2022

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by David Hagenbuch - professor of Marketing at Messiah University -
​author of 
Honorable Influence - founder of Mindful Marketing 


While Ukrainians mourn their war dead and Buffalo residents grieve victims of a hate crime, a guy in New York cries foul because his hamburgers aren’t bigger.  Of course, not every real problem is a matter of life and death, but  could some seemingly frivolous lawsuits challenging fast food promotions portray broader communication concerns? 
 
On May 17, Long Island resident Justin Chimienti filed a legal action in a Brooklyn federal court, accusing both Wendy’s and McDonald’s of “defrauding customers with ads that make burgers appear larger than they actually are.”
 
The lawsuit alleges that the restaurants’ use of undercooked beef in photo shoots leads to promotional pieces with burgers that appear 15% to 20% larger than those customers actually receive.  The suit also suggests that Wendy’s exaggerates the toppings that embellish its sandwiches.

Burger King, the third of the big three fast food competitors, was slapped with a similar lawsuit just over a month ago.  In fact, the same law firms that sued BK are also representing Chimienti in the most recent litigation.
 
To many, these lawsuits are the epitome of money-grabbing lawyers eager to profit from a first-world problem--With so many truly important events happening in our world, why should anyone worry that Whoppers aren’t as juicy as they appear in their pictures?
 
However, Anthony Russo, one of the main attorneys representing the plaintiff, argues that there’s a bigger issue at play--corporate accountability.  He maintains that these legal actions will make the companies mend their ways, stop false and misleading advertising, and ultimately give consumers a better idea of the food they’re eating.
 
That justification sounds good, but it does come from one of the people who stands to gain the most from the litigation.  In fact:
 
“A detailed examination of eight years of consumer class actions in federal court found that consumers received only a tiny fraction of the money awarded in those cases while plaintiff lawyers frequently claimed a bigger share of the settlement than their clients.”

Still, legal action can be an effective way to bring about corporate change, and it usually takes attorneys to move such proceedings through the courts.
 
Imagining the burger court cases, the defendants might offer a counterargument like:

"When it comes to promoting themselves, don’t individuals and organizations have a right to ‘put their best foot forward,’ and doesn’t everyone expect others to do the same?"
 

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Most people don’t have sections of their resumes labeled ‘Main Flaws’ or ‘Greatest Failures’; instead, we list our ‘Special Skills’ and describe ‘Awards and Recognitions.’  Likewise, no one reviewing resumes expects to see those self-deprecating categories.  That’s why interviewers often ask job candidates things like, “Tell me about one of your weaknesses.”
 
So, shouldn’t companies also be allowed to brag a little and show their best examples versus humiliate themselves with mediocre or bad ones?
 
Curating top quality products for promotion certainly isn’t unique to fast food chains.  Grocery store flyers rarely feature misshapen fruits and vegetables, car commercials don’t use vehicles with scratches or dents, and clothing ads don’t show shirts that are wrinkled or frayed.
 
As consumers, not only do we routinely see such examples, many of us are involved in the same sort of careful curation of ourselves and the organizations we serve.
 
During my two-plus decades in higher education, I’ve often helped select ‘best’ examples to help promote my department and university.  For instance, when asked to suggest students or alumni who might provide a testimonial, I take plenty of time to think before offering names of individuals who I believe have had very positive experiences.
 
However, just because we engage in such selective promotion doesn’t mean that we should, i.e., we need to be careful about reasoning from ‘is’ to ‘ought.’

The main moral questions to ask are whether the recipients of the promotion are deceived and harmed.
 
Personally, I don’t feel misled by pictures of perfect peaches, super clean cars, or spotless shirts.  Most people also probably expect the actual items they buy to have at least some minor imperfections when compared to their pictured counterparts.
 
Depending on the nature and cost of the product, there’s a level below perfect condition that we readily accept knowing that we live in an imperfect world.  Furthermore, in terms of food, visual imperfections probably don’t matter as much as they do for many other products because although we eat with our eyes, the appearance of what’s on our plates is short-lived.
 
That takes us back to burgers and the main moral questions:
Do differences between what Burger King, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s depict in their ads and sell in their stores deceive and harm consumers?
 
First, it’s important to recognize that for the vast majority of consumers, these fast food restaurants’ ads represent reminder advertising, i.e., most people have already eaten in one or more of the chains, possibly multiple times, so they’re well aware of what they’ll receive the next time they visit.
 
Second, fast food is a rather low-involvement, low-risk purchase.  When deciding what to order, people typically spend a minute or less, not hours, days, or weeks, as they might when selecting some products.  Likewise, the average McDonald’s Big Mac Meal costs only $5.99, and customers can buy two cheeseburgers for just $2.00.  So, if the beef patties don’t look quite as pretty as the pictures, it’s no big loss.
 
All that said, there is a difference between misrepresenting quality and misrepresenting quantity.  Whether burgers look more or less appealing than their pictures is a somewhat subjective matter.  Size is not.  People almost always want to get more product for their money, not less, so it’s a problem if a burger’s picture looks 50% bigger than the one we actually receive.
 
In this sense, the burger lawsuits have more teeth.  Consumers will quickly forget whether the Big Mac Meal looked as good in person as it did in the picture, but they won’t forget if they’re still hungry after eating it, especially if they have no more meal money to spend.
 
Although that’s not a life-threatening problem on par with those mentioned at the outset of this piece, it is a legitimate consumer concern, particularly in inflationary times.  Whether they’re spending a lot or a little, people should always receive the amount of product they’re promised.
 
So, there is a plausible and practical component to the burger lawsuits; however, their bigger contribution is their call for accountability, which also may  mean modeling more genuine communication.
 
It’s not to say that people take their communication cues directly from fast food ads, yet there’s an unsettling resemblance between the idealized product promotions and the utopian pictures many individuals paint of themselves in social media.
 
When people see large, heavily advertised corporations like Burger King, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s freely exaggerating and glamorizing their truths, it implies permission for others to do the same.  
 
The world becomes a better place when individuals and organizations take care to represent themselves realistically.  It’s okay to put our best foot forward, but it must be our foot, not some fantastical version of it.  Those who walk with realism are stepping into “Mindful Marketing.”


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Does Free Speech Mean Unfiltered?

5/8/2022

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by David Hagenbuch - professor of Marketing at Messiah University -
​author of 
Honorable Influence - founder of Mindful Marketing 


There’s no law stopping someone from telling a coworker he has bad breath, or a friend she texts too much, or a spouse their outfit isn’t flattering.  Although people have the right to offer such criticisms, they often hold their tongues.  Verbal restraint isn’t always ideal, but even common communication challenges like these can inform a newly trending social imperative—free speech.
 
Serial entrepreneur and one of the planet’s richest people, Elon Musk is buying Twitter— perhaps the world’s most pervasive and controversial communication platform.  The reasons behind the $44 billion purchase are likely multifold; however, Musk claims that one of his primary motivations is to reduce the medium’s content moderation and to allow more free speech.
 
Free speech is fundamental to democracy: Government of-by-for the people is predicated on individuals speaking their minds, including ideas critical of the government.  That’s why the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states:
 
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, [emphasis added] or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
 
Of course, the nation’s founders couldn’t have foreseen social media and how it would be used both to bolster democracy (e.g., Arab Spring in 2010) and to bash people who look or think differently.  The founders were people too, who probably fell into petty squabbles and even engaged in personal attacks; however, it’s unlikely that second kind of communication is what they intended to protect in amending the constitution.
 
Nevertheless, because of the First Amendment, there are no U.S. laws against hate speech; rather, people are free to say pretty much whatever they want about others, without legal repercussions, as Black’s Law Dictionary explains:
 
“A person hurling insults, making rude statements, or disparaging comments about another person or group is merely exercising his or her right to free speech. This is true even if the person or group targeted by the speaker is a member of a protected class. According to U.S. law, such speech is fully permissible and is not defined as hate speech.”
 
So, based on the law alone, people can pretty much let loose: no filter needed.  Likewise, Musk has suggested that people should be able to ‘say whatever is legal.’  On April 26, 2022, he tweeted his stance:
 
“By ‘free speech,’ I simply mean that which matches the law.  I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.  If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect.  Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.”
 

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Although it’s true that law and ethics often align, the fit is far from perfect.  Some laws even encourage immorality.  At a minimum, there’s a lag, sometimes of decades or centuries before legislation aimed at correcting ethical failings come to fruition.
 
For instance, Jim Crow laws once required physical segregation of people of different races.  Likewise, from its inception in 1776, it took the United States nearly two centuries to pass laws forbidding discrimination, namely Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
 
Even now, a leaked Supreme Court memo has spawned demonstrations across the country about abortion law.  Regardless of whether Roe v. Wade stands or falls, a significant portion of the population will contend that the law does not match morality.
 
In short, we all need to be careful of equating what’s ethical with what’s legal.  More specifically, if legal-moral equivalence doesn't hold for other social issues, why assume it works for communication-related concerns?  
 
So, instead of rushing ahead with the reasoning, “Because the law allows us to say anything, we should,” individuals and organizations should collect their thoughts and consider three free speech amendments:
 
1) Practice Self-Restraint:  Most people place limits on how much they eat, sleep, watch TV, etc., for their own good and sometimes because their actions impact others.  Why not apply the same principle of self-control to our words?  This adapted, time-honored moral axiom couldn’t be more apropos, ‘just because we can say it doesn’t mean we should say it.’ 
 
In speaking, as in many other things in life, less can be more, and sometimes saying nothing is best.  When a baseball infielder mishandles a ground ball that allows the other team to score and win the game, nothing good comes from the coach berating him for his error.  The player knows he made a mistake and already feels very badly about it.  Even in cases when we’re free to speak, sometimes our thoughts are better left unsaid.
 
2) Ensure What We’re Saying is True:  With social media and little effort, anyone can say practically anything to anyone anywhere in the world, which makes it all-the-more important to prioritize truthfulness.  We should be confident of the veracity of what we say, as well as what we share from others.  If we’re not certain something is true, we should at least provide a clear disclaimer or even better, wait until we know.
 
Alec Hill describes deception as encouraging someone to believe something that you don’t believe yourself.  That kind of intentional manipulation of the truth is unconscionable.  However, it’s also negligent to forward unverified information.  A fundamental cost of free speech is the time and effort it takes to ensure the accuracy of what we say.
 
3) Take Care in How We Say Things:  We’ve all heard the sentiment, ‘It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.’  We’ve also experienced how much better it feels to receive a constructive critique versus caustic criticism.
 
When in person, nonverbal communication like welcoming body language and a friendly tone of voice can temper a message that’s not particularly positive.  Similarly, a forward-looking frame is often better than a back-facing one.  For instance, rather than belittling a person for what they did wrong, “You were so bad!!” focus on the action and project a positive future one: “It might be better to  . . .”  Both are free speech, but the latter will almost always elicit a more favorable reaction.
 
Do the preceding three recommendations restrict free speech?  In the sense that they urge us not to say everything we think or to say things the way we first think them, yes .  On the other hand, ‘filtering’ in the ways described above adds value to the communication by casting the sender in a more positive light and making it more likely that the recipient will take action. 
 
By virtue of their many media-related roles, marketers and Musk have unique opportunities to influence mass communication and interpersonal conversations.  Filtered communication is still free speech.  It’s also “Mindful Marketing.”


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