Appeals of Food

In Freedman and Jurafsky's piece on the authenticity of food in America, they discuss the strong distinctions between various bags of potato chips.  One might see a bag of potato chips, and then another, and not really understand why one might cost more than the other, or why one has a different physical appearance.  I know I have never really thought about it.  But the fact of the matter is, these bags differ in appearance and cost for a huge reason.  Brands such as Lays, Herr's, and Wise (pg 48) are made for the lower-class, whereas brands like Boulder, Kettle Brand, and Dirty (pg 48) are targeted at a higher-class of people.  Thus, the differing aspects of the bags is not just for looks, but to appeal to it's audience, whether it be lower-class or upper-class.
There are numerous ways in which bags made for the upper-class differ from those of the lower class.  In general, upper-class people have a high level of educational background, higher than most lower class.  Thus, "expensive chips have more words overall" (pg 48) than "cheap" chips.  This demonstrates the importance of language for expensive bags because language is something strongly important and sophisticated with upper class people.  Not only are more words used on expensive potato chips, but more intelligent words are included on the bags than those intended for the lower class.  It is through these language differences that potato chip companies create their chip bags to fit their specific clientele.
Freedman and Jurafsky also comment on the use of negative words that are used so prevalently in upper class chips.  These words include "never", "none", "less", and "no".  Health is much more important and sought after in higher class people, so therefore, adding phrases such as "no additional carbs", and "less trans fats" are appealing to their audience.
While the varying types of potato chips are a successful example of creating products that are appealing to a specific audience, there are other examples as to how advertisers create this phenomenon.  Besides contrasting the appeals of upper class and lower class, there are certain foods that are made to appeal to a certain gender.  For example, although water is a universal necessity for both males and females, differing brands make their product appealing for each gender.  Smart Water tries to appeal to a more manly based clientele, using pictures of strong male athletes and emphasizing the fact that Smart Water is full of electrolytes.  Oppositely, the brand Evion appeals more often to females, with it's pink label and calm, feminine advertisement strategies.  Although both are attempting to sell the same product, they both base their advertising approaches on the sex they want attract. It's examples like these that show the importance of strategy when advertising a certain product.