Made with the Freshest Squeezed Corn

   

     Framing is an act used by many politicians and advertising campaigns across the country, but what is this clever tactic?  By using the concept of framing, individuals can pick and choose, essentially, what they want to get across to their listener without compromising their integrity.  As George Lakoff states in his book Don't Think of an Elephant!, "Framing is about getting language that fits your worldview.  It's not just language.  The ideas are primary - and the language carries those ideas, evokes those ideas."  So to expand on his thoughts, framing takes the idea you want to present and does so in a manner that would be best accepted by your ideal audience.

     The example I chose to exemplify framing is found in nearly every vending machine here at Shepherd University.  Minute Maid brand fruit drinks (as well as many others, but I chose this one in particular) mention 'being made with real fruit juice' and 'made with all natural ingredients', but how much of it is fruit and how much is sugar water?

     The addition of high fructose corn syrup into beverages is not the problem here as nearly every one of them does.  In this case, it is the fact that Minute Maid claims to be made with 100% fruit juice, but only because the amount of corn syrup added into the mix makes up a fraction of the juice that is apparently small enough to remain uncounted.  So just because you only add a little bit of it means it can be left out of the statistics altogether?  When questioned about the usage of high fructose corn syrup in their products, The Head of Industry & Consumer Affairs, Johnetta D. Lewis stated:
                "High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is the sweetener we use in the United States because it is an available, affordable sweetener which, in solution, tastes like sugar. The entire supply of sugar in the United States would not be enough to produce our products alone, much less in addition to those of other companies. The United States must import sugar for its domestic needs but corn is grown so abundantly, we export it overseas."
     So just because corn is more abundant here in the United States, Minute Maid (and Coca-Cola by proxy) are endorsing the idea of using corn syrup in their beverages, but then lying about it afterwards.  If Johnetta's response to the use of corn syrup in their beverages was so matter-of-fact, then why can't they out the same thing on their beverages.  The answer is the American Dollar, unfortunately. 
     To elaborate, this is not a stab at Minute Maid or Coca-Cola directly, but to basically any and all companies that use this practice.  If we are all adults of sound mind, it is ironic that the use of lies and trickery is what is fueling the consumer economy.  Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle highlights the other aspects of the shortcuts that food processing companies use, and was a strong inspiration for this blog.  It definitely is an encouraged read to discover what these companies will do just to get in your wallet.

Find out what's really going into your burger in Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle.