In a society where the average waistline has grossly increased over the last few decades, it seems fitting that marketers have found a way to downplay the negative aspects and appeal to people by tricking them into feeling better about themselves and their unhealthy habits.

This can be seen both in increased portion sizes with options such as “Super Size” at restaurants and chains across the nation as well as in the evolution of clothing sizes overtime to adjust to a larger population.

Studies being done by University of Michigan professor Aradhna Krishna have found that people tend to take food labeling into consideration when making meal choices. For example, in a study where individuals received either a cookie marked large or a cookie marked medium, both of which were actually identical in size, people tended to eat more of the medium cookie. It seems apparent that most people think the arbitrary sizing guidelines in the food industry hold some uniformity in terms of portion size or nutritional values. This however, isn’t the case. A large soda at McDonald’s is equivalent to a medium soda at Wendy’s, and food portions vary vastly from restaurant to restaurant. The problem lies wherein fast food chains and restaurants started increasing portion sizes and people treated them as if there was no difference. A large fry was still called a large fry, even if it had increased two-fold. And people still treated it as such.

As people increased in size with the increase in food consumption, retailers found that they were less likely to purchase as many clothes if they felt like they were a bigger size. Whereas, if an individual found out they were actually a smaller size than originally thought, they would have a heyday at the mall to celebrate. In order to create this feeling of false security, marketers landed on a clever solution. Slowly change sizes as the overall population size increases. Therefore a size 0 in today’s world was a size 4 in the 70’s, and a size 8 in the 50’s.

Is this marketing deception, or just a general transition in appropriate sizes compared to the population?  It’s hard to say.

Very few products can still claim they hold true to the brand promise of years ago. Whether that be through altering sizes to boost sales, creating “value” by offering unnecessary amounts of food, or by promoting exaggerated realities and disregarding the true nature of their offering. While not all of these issues are things we here at Magneto can single-handedly tackle, we do pride ourselves in creating work that stays true to the essence of a brand. Whether it’s a car dealership, or a well-respected financial institution or a home-grown utility, we dig deep and find something that feels right.

Share: