Diet Industry Wants Your Money? What About Big Food Industry?

It’s weird how fat acceptance cites the diet industry’s yearly profit of $75 billion but they ignore the fast food’s $385 billion and soda’s $279 billion.

Those much wealthier industries use some very clever and manipulative tactics to convince consumers to buy their unhealthy, high calorie products.

They use psychological trickery. It may not be identical to what the diet industry uses, but it’s there nonetheless.

Pay attention to the messages of any softdrink or fast food TV commercial. Many play with the viewers’ head, plain and simple.

This calls to mind an old and very successful commercial campaign of McDonald’s some years ago, with these jingle lyrics:

“You deserve a break today, so get up and get away, to McDonald’s.”

This  jingle made who knows how many viewers convinced they needed a break and needed fast food to reward themselves.

The diet industry is not unique in the way it markets and advertises their products.

Yet influencers who promote fat acceptance or the celebration of morbid obesity want you to believe that trickery and all sorts of marketing shenanigans don’t exist in the very industries that largely contribute to America’s obesity epidemic.

Fat activists on TikTok and Instagram conveniently leave that out.

How Big Food Makes and Keeps Americans Fat and Unhealthy

The big food industry employs a range of psychological tactics to drive consumption and contribute to the obesity epidemic in the U.S. – and needless to say, this epidemic even affects young children.

These strategies are carefully crafted to influence consumer behavior, leading to overeating, poor food choices and weight gain.

The diet industry is just a little peanut compared to the behemoths of the food industry.

Below are some key psychological tactics used by food companies, supported by research and expert sources.

Hyper-Palatable Foods and Addictive Ingredients

Food companies design products that hit the “bliss point,” a term coined by food scientists to describe the optimal combination of sugar, fat and salt that creates intense pleasure.

These hyper-palatable foods activate the brain’s reward system, making people crave more and eat beyond their physiological hunger.

This manipulation of taste leads to addiction-like eating behavior, as people are more likely to overconsume these highly rewarding foods. (Spence, C., 2015, “Multisensory Influence on Food Perception and Consumption”)

Emotional and Comfort Eating

Food companies market products that cater to emotional eating by associating their foods with feelings of comfort, happiness or nostalgia.

For example, ads may feature families enjoying food together or people indulging in treats to soothe their stress.

York Peppermint Patty’s “Get the Sensation” slogan, along with the visuals of the commercial, had sexual undertones.

“You aren’t you when you’re hungry” sent a powerful message to go eat a Snickers bar.

Yet the fat acceptance cult focuses only on the diet industry’s message that you can’t be happy unless you’re thin.

This emotional connection of ultra-processed food to our feelings creates a cycle where consumers use food as a coping mechanism, particularly during moments of stress or unhappiness, leading to overeating and weight gain. (Macht, M., 2008, “How Emotions Affect Eating: A Review of Emotional Influences on Food Choice, Intake, and Consumption”)

Portion Size Manipulation

Larger portion sizes have become the norm in both restaurants and packaged foods.

The “portion distortion” tactic encourages men, women and kids to eat more by presenting larger servings, often at lower costs per unit.

Studies have shown that when people are given larger portions, they tend to eat more, regardless of whether they’re hungry. (Young, L. R., & Nestle, M., 2002, “The Contribution of Expanding Portion Sizes to the Obesity Epidemic”)

Marketing to Children

The food industry aggressively markets to children by using cartoon characters, colorful packaging and interactive advertisements.

Look at how many cereals have included toys to attract kids.

At least one cereal, complete with lots of added sugar, has starred in commercials for decades suggesting that when kids eat this “great!” cereal, it’ll make them better athletes. Preposterous, indeed.

These tactics exploit children’s cognitive vulnerabilities (and also their moms’), making them more likely to ask for unhealthy snacks and sugary cereals.

Such marketing has been shown to influence kids’ food choices and contribute to the development of lifelong poor eating habits. (Harris, J. L., et al., 2009, “Fast Food Marketing and Children’s Menu Labeling: A Review of the Literature”)

Health Halo Effect

Food companies often market products with labels that imply health benefits, such as “low-fat,” “organic” or “gluten-free.”

There was once a Hostess Cupcake commercial in which the mom says, “They’re made with milk, so I know they’re wholesome.”

The giant company that makes these sugar-laden snacks tricked who knows how many moms into believing that “wholesome” means “healthful.”

Similar tactics continue to occur. But we don’t see the fat activists on TikTok screaming about this kind of deception.

These labels can create a “health halo,” leading consumers to believe that these products are inherently better for them, even though they may be high in sugar or unhealthy fats, namely trans fats.

This misperception encourages overeating and contributes to the maintenance of overweight. (Wansink, B., 2006, “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More than We Think”)

The Role of Sugary Beverages

Sugary beverages, including soda and energy drinks, are a major contributor to weight gain.

The food industry heavily markets these drinks by emphasizing convenience and the perception of refreshment.

At least one commercial campaign associated its popular cola with enhanced athletic performance.

Liquid calories are not perceived by the brain in the same way solid food is, which can lead to increased total calorie consumption without a feeling of fullness. (Popkin, B. M., et al., 2012, “A Review of the Evidence on the Relationship Between Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Obesity”)

Convenience and Accessibility

Highly processed foods are often cheaper and more accessible than healthier options.

Convenience foods, such as snacks and pre-packaged meals, are marketed as quick and easy, making them more appealing in a fast-paced society.

Convenience encourages frequent consumption of calorie-dense, low-nutrient foods, contributing to obesity. (Drewnowski, A., 2004, “Dietary Guidelines and Food Choices: The Role of Food Price in Food Choice Decisions”)

Price and Promotions

The food industry uses price manipulation and promotional strategies to increase consumption – which means more of your money going into their pockets.

Influencers who promote obesity don’t seem to have a problem with this – as well as any of the other tactics that lead to more spending on big food by consumers!

Bulk purchasing options and sales like “buy one, get one free” make unhealthy foods seem like better deals, encouraging larger quantities of intake.

All the time I see deals in the candy section of the supermarket. How many shoppers will buy candy bars just because they spotted a deal?

The candy industry, like the diet industry, wants your money. The candy industry doesn’t care if you get fat or develop prediabetes by overeating their products.

Again, those who glorify obesity don’t seem to mind this!

The availability of discounted junk food makes it more appealing compared to healthier options, often leading to overeating. (Chandon, P., & Wansink, B., 2007, “The Influence of Healthy Menu Labels on the Food Choice of Restaurants.)

Nudging and Store Layout

The location of unhealthy foods in stores is a key psychological ploy designed to influence shoppers.

While fat liberationists continue to criticize the diet and weight loss industry for manipulating the consumer’s mind, supermarkets use “nudging” strategies by placing junk food at eye level, near the checkout or in high-traffic areas, encouraging impulse purchases.

Do you ever see whole fruit near the checkout and especially within the checkout?

This strategic positioning tricks people into buying much more than what they had originally came in for. (Cohen, D. A., et al., 2012, “The Influence of Retail Food Environments on Obesity: A Systematic Review of the Literature”)

Variety and Limited-Time Offers

The food industry frequently introduces new flavors, products or special editions, often framing them as limited-time offers. McDonald’s is well-known for this.

This tactic capitalizes on the psychological principle of scarcity (the fear of missing out), leading people to purchase more than they need.

The excitement around these offers encourages impulsive decisions and contributes to packing on the pounds. (Dube, J-P., et al., 2010, “Tasting the Difference: The Impact of New Flavors and Variety on Food Choices”)

Honorable Mentions

Big Food uses cute mascots to tug at your stomach strings. Pillsbury, anyone?

Another example is that somehow, someway, generation after generation of Americans has become brainwashed into thinking they must chow down candy and buckets of butter-soaked popcorn, and guzzle huge containers of soda, while watching a movie at the theatre.

Yet at home, many would not ingest this high volume of calories if watching the same movie in their living room.

Talk about psychological manipulation!

Industry Sleight of Hand by Big Food

So the fat acceptance movement keeps pumping out narrative that the diet industry resorts to all sorts of deception and schemes to make money.

Big question: Where are these influencers who promote morbid obesity when it comes to the Big Food industry’s sleight of hand?

An example is the nutrition label on a high calorie item. The company will name a “serving size” that’s ridiculously small in order to lower the calorie amount.

Consumers typically look at only the calorie count, not the serving size.

The wrapper on a single big chocolate chip cookie says it’s 160 calories.

That sounds pretty reasonable for the jumbo cookie. But the listed serving size is HALF the cookie!

So if you eat the whole thing, it’s 320 calories! Who’s going to eat only half of a cookie?

Big Food knows most people, even those who want to lose weight, will look at only the calories!

Serving sizes to lower the calories are often only half a cup or one ounce, even though these are unrealistically small servings for even people who don’t overeat.

The serving size fiasco will also encourage people to buy more of the product, because they believe they’re taking in far fewer calories than they actually are!

Final Thoughts

These tactics — ranging from emotional appeal to the strategic manipulation of portion sizes and the use of misleading health claims — are designed to increase consumption, often at the cost of consumers’ long-term health.

By exploiting psychological triggers, the food industry literally encourages Americans to become morbidly obese, sometimes well into the 300s and even 400s.

The “greedy” diet industry can’t hold a flame to Big Food’s power over people.

Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, increased strength, muscle building, fitness and improved health. 

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­Top image: ©Lorra Garrick