Essay Development & Structure

The interim submission is getting close and I've completely forgotten about CoP. I'm such a stress head, I've been way too focused on everything else and I haven't delegated myself enough time. I don't enjoy writing essays, I'm totally out of practice and I prefer to focus on drawing, so that's probably why I've avoided it.

My essay absolutely sucked last year because I didn't understand the point of CoP. I'd been used to writing descriptive essays at school and hadn't done this in a few years so didn't really get my head around what I was supposed to be writing or how. I really don't want to make the same mistake this year. 

Anyway I'm going to plan it all out to try to make it easier for myself to handle.

Essay Question
Why do fast food and junk food companies target children, despite common known health risks and the ever increasing issue of childhood obesity?

What am I exploring?
Why do they keep on aiming campaigns and advertising toward children? 
What are the benefits for the company that outweigh the health risks that are associated with frequent consumption of their foods? 
When we have so much more evidence now about trans fats, high sugar and high sodium foods being bad for us, why are the companies continuing to promote such unhealthy products to children? 

How am I approaching it? Argument?
That the concern is about money, and aiming ad campaigns, toys or promotions toward kids brings in more money. Looking at why kids = money.
- Pester power and persuasion of children over their parents
- 'Cradle to grave' advertising. Creating relationship with brand and brand loyalty. Adults with nostalgic memories of eating certain foods or eating at certain restaurants as kids.
- Children don't always know any better and can be very impressionable.

What images do I have that relate to the argument?
- Examples of adverts / use of characters to appeal to children

What sources have I got to support argument?
The Essence of Consumer Behaviour - Jim Blythe
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal - Eric Schlosser
Ted Talks - Marketing food to children - Anna Lappe

Essay Structure

Introduction - What am I asking, what am I arguing? 

Paragraph 1 - HOW DO THEY TARGET CHILDREN?

IMAGE? - What am I on about? How do the companies target with campaigns, advertising, toys etc. Relatively recently, regulations have been put into place in order to help reduce the amount of junk food advertisements that children are exposed to on the television. It has targeted those aired around the times that programmes made specifically for children are on. More recently apps and adverts within games - moving along with technology

Paragraph 2 - WHY 1 - children = parents / more customers = more money.  pester power.  parents want to please. families then create routines?

Paragraph 3 - WHY 2 - creating brand loyalty from an early age = cradle to grave

Paragraph 4 - WHY 3 - children are impressionable and easily influenced = hence why previous two points work

Latchkey kids - makes it easy to target them

Conclusion - attempts to try to adhere to the constant updates from new regulations not working. the fast food giants are competing for the top and constantly thinking about the best way to make more money. children are some of their main targets and to lose them as an audience would lose money.