Bambi or The Evil Step Mother?

In Eric Schlosser’s “Your Trusted Friends” article, he reveals the truth about how Disney corporations and McDonald’s franchises target their products towards children in order to increase sales. In the beginning of the piece, Schlosser shows his readers the gimmicks, such as the “Talk with Ray” exhibit, of the Ray A. Kroc Museum and the amount of people that were at the museum as if it were like a theme park.

He then moves on to indicate the similarities of the McDonald’s founder, Ray A. Kroc, and another successful man, Walt Disney. Not only are there numerous lifestyle similarities between the two, but they both had the same goal as far as marketing when dealing with their respective companies. In time, they both became marketing geniuses that led their strategies towards children. Disney used animals in many of his creations because research showed that a majority of children had dreams about furry, cuddly, animals. Kroc, on the other hand, created Ronald McDonald, which grabbed children’s attentions immediately. Both Disney and Kroc designated their marketing strategies towards children so that little ones would encourage their guardians to go to a Disney movie or a McDonald’s restaurant.

Disney and Kroc were early entrepreneurs in this field of marketing. In the 1980s, other companies started targeting children as well by offering meals specifically for children, or even having vibrant colors painted on the walls that would appeal to children. Throughout the entire article, Schlosser shows that these companies are not as innocent as they may seem at a first glance.