Networks Hound Burger King for
Launching Enormous Sandwich
ABC and NBC shake their collective finger
at the naughty peddlers of the new Omelet Sandwich.
By Amy Menefee [1]
April 1, 2005
Its been a rough week on TV for Burger
King. The Kings chief concept officer, Denny Marie Post, appeared
on morning shows and nightly newscasts several times explaining the
simple idea of marketing a new product to a target audience. But
when that product is the 730-calorie Enormous Omelet Sandwich, its
fair game for those who would protect Americans from themselves.
Peter Jennings, on March 28s World News Tonight,
referred to the nutritionists who would call the new breakfast
sandwich food porn. Actually, food porn is a term used by the
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a radical
anti-food-industry organization. Jennings did CSPIs work for it in
his newscast, telling viewers that Burger King isnt even trying to
pretend its new breakfast offering is good for you. He went on to
say, The money is in the size.
This is consistent with findings in twoBusiness & Media Institute studies on news coverage of obesity. Most recently, in Supersized
Bias II [2], food industry critics were portrayed as unbiased
experts most of the time. Jennings characterization of CSPI as
nutritionists is just such a portrayal. On NBCs March 29 Today,
long-time industry critic and nutrition professor Marion Nestle was
a familiar go-to source for calorie condemnation.
ABC reporter Dean Reynolds called the sandwich a
gut-buster, and Jennings finished his report by ominously linking
the Burger King breakfast to obesity. In fact, Jennings implied that
youd better watch your neighbors they might be grabbing a Burger
King breakfast, and everyone may pay for it in terms of health
care down the road, he said. NBCs Alexis Glick, reporting on
Today, said, Nearly 59 million Americans are considered obese.
Nutritionists say these portion sizes dont help.
Likewise, Matt Lauer of NBCs Today warned: You
should be careful. You might need to go on a 10-mile run to work it
off. Lauer also referred to the expanding girth of Americans.
Calling himself all about personal responsibility, Lauer pointed
to the sandwich and said, Any knucklehead who goes in and buys this
five days a week deserves an angioplasty.
Lauer understood that the notion of personal
responsibility makes the free market work. Alexis Glick of NBC
pointed out on March 29s Today that Burger King had already sold
750,000 of the omelet sandwiches in the first week. Burger King says
it is selling a product marketed to a specific demographic young,
active men who want a hearty but quick breakfast. Its kind of like
a platter between two buns, Denny Marie Post said on Today.
During the lengthy Today segment in which Hardees
and Pizza Huts latest big food items were also exposed for their
calories and fat, nutritionist Heidi Skolnik squeezed in a bit of
praise for Burger King for its healthier menu options, such as
salads and soda alternatives.
Matt Lauer, at least, seemed aware that he couldnt
blame the fast food restaurants for Americas obesity problem.
Ending the fast food-bashing segment, he said, Again, its all
about personal responsibility. If you go into a restaurant and order
this every day, its your own fault if you end up with problems.
If you really know whats going on, Skolnik added.
Supersized Bias [3] was the Business & Media Institutes first study on
media bias against the food industry in the obesity debate.