Design and the future

¶ … Future

Food lust advertising design: Applying the concepts of 'luxuria' and 'chastity'

When comparing cars such as Hummer and the Prius, the contrast between the two brand identities seems obvious. One is a large, gas-guzzling vehicle that denotes the purchaser's wealth. The Prius is a small, snub-nosed vehicle that apparently proclaims the user's interest in environmental sustainability. However, beneath the surface, there are even more complex issues about how the vehicles convey the user's class. The Prius is also an expensive car, after all. Chastity is not about low price -- it is an attitude.

What constitutes 'luxuria' versus 'chastity' in marketing is even more complex with the marketing of items that have a very wide price range like food. Some products marketed as objects of 'luxuria' may be low-priced; some may be high-price. Some products marketed upon their 'chastity' may be more expensive than their 'luxuria' counterparts. The Wendy's Baconater is a good example of a product marketed based upon its luxury and decadence, although it is a fast food item. The excessive nature of the burger -- it is made with two quarter-pound patties topped with six slices of bacon -- is used to market the menu item. The luxury and indulgent aspect of the burger is its selling point, even though it is a relatively low-cost item. The typical fast food consumer is looking for value, but the burger is not sold primarily on cost, unlike the 99 cent menu items. It is presented as an affordable way to indulge for the target demographic.

However, while in the United States, fast food consumers tend to be less affluent, in many nations the cache of Americaness and the novelty of eating fast food means that franchises tend to attract a higher-end demographic. With this in mind, Wendy's has introduced a burger for its Japanese market that is specifically marketed upon the appeal of its expense as well as its indulgence: a foie gras burger topped with truffles. It is priced at $16. "The first new Wendy's in the country [Japan] opened this week in a luxury shopping area in Tokyo....The goose liver-topped burger won't show up in the U.S. any time soon. Wendy's said its most expensive items here [in the U.S.] are in the $5-to-$6 range" (Hsu 2011).

Concern about dieting, however, means that many low-end products are also marketed based upon their chastity, or abstinence. Slim Fast is a reasonably-priced diet product that is sold in many supermarkets and drug stores, and promotes the abstinence it is able to encourage in the consumer. The meal replacement is advertised to be able to stop hunger for up to four hours and even Slim Fast's containers are hourglass-shaped, to suggest that they promote weight loss. In contrast, the high-end spa Canyon Ranch promotes the abstinence of its food as well and the value of chastity, despite its high cost. The "Nutrition" section of the Canyon Ranch website depicts a beautifully sliced Granny Smith apple, dotted with moisture. This suggests that eating extremely spare healthy food to lose weight can still be a luxurious and indulgent experience.