The Truth of McDonalds Exposed

Supersize Me

Documentaries have become very popular in our societies popular culture over the past decade. One documentary that sent our entire nation into a state of mass confusion was “Supersize Me.” This documentary exposes how unhealthy McDonalds food is. It was made in 2004 by Morgan Spurlock, it follows Spurlock on his 30 day journey of eating only McDonald’s food. Spurlock’s health suffered extremely. He gained 25 pounds, his cholesterol increased, and he also suffered from negative psychological effects such as mood swings and constant fatigue. This documentary was extremely eye opening for our entire nation. Of course, before this documentary, it was general knowledge that fast food isn’t healthy, but people did not realize that the chemicals and poor quality of the food could do actual damage to your body. Even though fast food restaurants aren’t typically seen as part of pop culture, McDonalds is iconic in America, it has been around since 1940 and serves millions of customers every day. Supersize Me shed an extremely negative light on something that our society had never looked at in such a way. Supersize Me is an example of how powerful mass media is in our country. Because so many people in our country watched this documentary, McDonalds sales and stocks dropped significant percentages. McDonalds had to revamp their entire image with marketing for their new “healthier” menu. I have talked to many people who have not eaten McDonalds since they saw this documentary. This documentary goes to show how seriously people take documentaries, movies, and T.V shows that they see. Tell all documentaries like Supersize Me have the power to be extremely persuasive to viewers, and they have the power to negatively affect major corporations. The entire fast food industry in our country is an example of how people in our society live. New technologies have led everyone to be living in a constant rush, until this documentary people never stopped to really examine McDonalds and the negative effects its fast food can have on us.