Food in advertising rarely makes an appearance as simple nourishment. Instead it acts as a substitute for love or romance, a reward (for "good" behavior), a guilty secret/pleasure, an erotic encounter, a consolation prize, a source of and cure for anxiety. Advertising that links food to so many other needs and desires (while simultaneously promoting the thin-ideal body image), can encourage eating disorders, especially in relation to empty-calorie, high sugar and high fat content foods like chocolate. (J. Retzinger Ph.D, Dept. of Mass Communications, UC Berkeley, 2004.)
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