1. SUPER SIZE ME By Morgan Spurlock Persuade me to believe that fast food restaurants are responsible to keep me healthy. Persuade me that fast food restaurants are out to make me eat unhealthy food. Persuade me to join your cause. Mary Jo Barbato Art of Persuasion – Unit 5 Assignment

2. Prove it to me… • Direct Experience • Actual experiment to show affects of eating fast food • Rational Experience • Doctor’s reports on affects of fast food diet • Dramatic Experience • Character goes from extreme organic vegan eating to extreme fast food eating

3. Expert Opinion - Impress Me • Former Surgeon General • Educators, Nutritionists • Secretary of Health & Human Services • Doctors

4. Drown me in statistics… • 3 million vending machines in the U.S. • 1 machine for every 97 Americans • List of fattest cities • 1 in 4 children born will develop diabetes • 1 in 4 adults in Mississippi are obese

5. Shock & Awe • A picture is worth a 1,000 words… • Show people in uncomfortable positions like sunbathing • Show unhappy people • Block faces – ashamed people • Choose people with ill fitting clothing • Choose urban setting to show professionals

6. Emotions… • Fear • Guilt This topic fits well with the emotions of fear and guilt. We are all scared of the consequences of eating fast food and as adults we feel guilty about our influence on our children’s eating habits. This film capitalized on these tactics.

7. Awe & Shock… • Am I going to die from this? • Diabetes • Heart Disease • Eating Disorders • Childhood Obesity • High Blood Pressure • Liver disease • And every other health concern known to man

8. Scare me…Guilt me… • This could happen to me? • I’m no different than this guy! • We eat out a lot. • Am I a bad parent? • What have I taught my kids? • Is there any hope? • What can I do?

9. It’s all about the Attitude… • Get my attention • Filmmaker uses various methods in getting our attention • Pictures • Overwhelming statistics • Extreme hype • Bizarre graphics

10. Make me understand… • Comprehension • Take me through your experience and teach me what is happening to you • Put the statistics in terms I can understand • Show me simple graphics • Make it so easy that I have to ‘get it’

11. Will I remember… • Retention • Make it memorable • Pictures • Stats • Repeat it and I’ll repeat it • Believe it and I’ll believe it

12. What do I do now… • Action • How should I respond? • Moderation in consumption of fast food • Take responsibility • Become educated • Support legislation

13. Self Reflection Watching a documentary was not my idea of fun. I’m not a fan of Michael Moore or biased documentaries in general. What I was impressed with was how easily I was taken in by the persuasion tactics. The course work spoke to the usage of different tactics, but when I felt the excitement build as I watched Super Size Me I recognized the real ability of well-managed persuasion.

14. Self Reflection • Super Size Me was able to send me back in time to when my children were small and we ate out at McDonald’s 3-4 times a week. It was our quality time, I reasoned. My guilt came on without me thinking about it. It came on even though I was aware of the content of the documentary. Even though I was aware that they were going to try to make me feel guilty. I thought I was prepared to fight off the persuasive powers. The methods were well executed and affective.

15. Self Reflection Persuasion is one of the most interesting topics I’ve studied on the course to my bachelor’s. The greatest connection to me is how closely it relates to marketing. They are almost one and the same. The only difference is that marketing generally attempts to build a relationship with the consumer while persuasion works to affect the decisions of the consumer, regardless of whether there is a relationship or not. As much as I was dreading this assignment it did drive home the powerful affects of well placed persuasion tactics and our ability, or inability to avoid the traps of such tactics. As consumers we must be diligent to recognize the methods used and be ready to fight our weakened minds to make healthy and responsible decisions.