早餐是一日三餐中,大眾花費最多的一餐,圖片來源:Chris Ralston, Unsplash

 

The final reason why the marketing battle over breakfast is so fierce is that corporations have for decades seen it as the meal that offers the most opportunity to ring out more food spending from consumers.

 

而為何早餐相關的產業會競爭的如此激烈,這是因為多年來,許多從事相關產品經營的企業認為,早餐是大眾花費最高的一餐

 

早餐是營收最高的一餐,是多年來餐飲業不變的定理,圖片來源:Emily Simenauer, Unsplash

 

Why have fast food chains focused more on advertising egg McMuffins, White Castle belgian waffles, and Taco Bell breakfast burritos? As industry members explained in a TIME article, “throughout the fast food world, lunch and dinner sales have been flat for years, while breakfast sales have climbed steadily.” You can find the same logic in cereal makers’ 1944 marketing strategy—the one that coined the phrase “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

 

既然有那麼多的相關品項,為何多年來速食業主要只有在瑪芬堡夾蛋、比利時鬆餅及墨西哥捲餅之類特定的產品做宣傳呢?在時代雜誌上,就曾有一位從業者就對此做了解釋:"在整個的速食業中,多年以來午餐和晚餐時段銷量的成長一向都不明顯,但是早餐並不是如此,反而都維持著穩定的成長呢。" 同樣的,您可以發現在1944年麥片生產商的廣告行銷策略上,找到同樣的邏輯-也就是前文所說的"早餐是一天當中最重要的一餐"

 

 

Breakfast is the grocer's most promising target,” one of their ad men explained. “Lunch and dinner in the average American home are fairly well set."


"早餐是食品業中最具潛力的標竿,這是因為其他兩餐本來就已經常見於一般的美國家庭了"參與行銷廣告的一位從業者如此表示著

 

二戰期間,營業學者們認為最好的早餐組合應該是全穀麥片搭配水果,圖片來源:Brooke Lark, Unsplash

 

Did the marketers and executives genuinely believe in the value of promoting a cereal breakfast as healthy? Nutritionists had debated back and forth for decades whether America’s increasingly desk-bound workforce needed a hearty breakfast. (Really we’ve never stopped.) But by the time of the 1944 campaign, during World War II, government nutritionists had sided with the pro-breakfast camp. In the interest of improving the health of army recruits, they teamed up with cereal companies to suggest that everyone eat a “good breakfast of whole-grain cereal and fruit.”

 

不過負責相關產品的行銷人員和管理階級,向大眾推廣在早餐時吃麥片的觀念的目的,真的就是在促進大眾的健康嗎?多年來,面對待辦公室內的上班族越來越多的狀況,許多營養學者們不斷在爭論著,到底他們需不需要一頓豐盛的早餐呢?(到現在這些討論都還沒停止過)。不過當1944年(也就是二戰的戰間期時)的政府宣傳廣告推出後,至少政府機關裡的營養學者的風向就有轉向,認為吃早餐是對人體是有害無益的。尤其當年正逢二戰期間,為了要改善受徵招的人員的健康狀況,他們就和麥片廠商合作,並宣告"如果要吃一頓好的早餐,那麼就應該要用全穀類麥片(whole-grain cereal)來搭配水果來做食用"

 

隨著近年來的科技發展,研究人員發現,早餐對於體重管理及學生的成績表現並沒有明顯的關聯性,圖片來源:Alisa Anton, Unsplash

 

Nutritionists are less certain about the value of this advice today. Those studying the issue say that studies that supported the importance of breakfast for weight management have been contradicted by more rigorous examinations—and that studies that examine the importance of schoolchildren eating breakfast have failed to show that breakfast (by itself) helps them focus on their work.

 

時間點拉回到70年後的現在,營養學者們其實不太認同這樣的觀點。有些學者透過更先進的研究技術,發現早餐其實對於體重管理的重要性並沒有跟原本設想一樣。此外,目前也沒有研究證據顯示:有固定吃早餐的學生,在表現上會比沒有這個習慣的來得好。

 

雖然早餐相關品項的營銷成長速度驚人,但因為原本美國人就很少有吃早餐的習慣。對於食品業來說,是個極需投入並推廣的市場,圖片來源:Jonathan Pielmayer, Unsplash

 

But you won’t hear that from marketers. Breakfast is the most skipped meal in America, which means money on the table for the food industry.

 

但當然,您不可能也不會從相關的營銷人員聽到這些話的。這是因為,雖然在美國境內早餐相關產品營收的成長速度驚人,但仍是美國人最少吃到的一餐,這對於食品業來說,是個極需推廣並投入的新市場。

 

雖然就本質上來看,懷疑有時候會阻隔了人與人之間的信任。但是在面對像是大眾所認為的常理時,難免會需要懷疑,圖片來源:Marcus Cramer, Unsplash

 

It’s always a good idea to remain skeptical of the claims made in advertisements and the ideas expressed by organizations with vested interests. But with breakfast foods, skepticism is particularly necessary. Since advertising is the foundation of the entire ready-to-eat industry, the incentives for deception are strong.

 

如果對於前文所述的那些廣告宣傳仍保有質疑的話,這的確是一件好事。本來在面對這種大眾認為是習以為常的觀念時,保有懷疑的心是必要的。這是因為大眾真的受到多年來相關從業者的大力宣傳的影響,難免會有深植人心的狀況。

 

電扶梯旁各式各樣的廣告,圖片來源:Mona Eendra, Unsplash

 

Be vigilant. Breakfast is the most marketed meal of the day.

由此可知,早餐其實是最常被推銷而不是最重要的一餐呢。

 

結論

本篇一開始先以早餐歷史的介紹為主,從早餐的問世講起,接著到了19世紀後,拜工業革命所賜,麥片的推廣受到了大眾們的重視,進而促進了現代早餐業的發展。儘管多年來,大眾對於早餐的需求量並不若其他兩餐。但因為需求量的成長幅度相當驚人的關係,使得相關業者大力推廣吃早餐的好處。不過隨著科學的發展,許多研究人員發現,這些所謂的好處背後並沒有確切的科學根據所支持著。作者想要透過文章的敘述,來告訴讀者-那些習以為常、看似定則的事物其實都需要受檢驗、需要去懷疑的

 

原文出處:How Breakfast Became a Thing
原文作者:Alex Mayyasi
撰文日期:2016.5.9

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