One of the marketing techniques of the fast food industry is the combo deal, designed to get the customer to make a quicker selection. It also has the presumed advantage of saving the customer money, as ala carte items appear to be more expensive than buying the combo package. But as soon as the customer orders it, the first question from the cashier is, Would you like to super-size that? Incredibly, for an extra 50 cents (range varies) you can double the size of your drink and French fries portion. It sounds like a good deal, but what its really intended to do is to make you buy more than you had originally intended to eat. The phenomenon doesnt end there: movie theaters and convenience stores all offer jumbo sized options that feel like novelty, comedy items. It has become so persuasive that most chains now consider a 16-ounce cup the small serving size. By comparison, the standard can of soda is 12 ounces.
13. Soda
There have been several surveys conducted that show a persons choice of word to describe carbonated soft drinks indicates where they are from, but whether you call it soda, pop or co-cola, it is the (non-alcoholic) drink of choice for most Americans. Half of the country has at least one can a day, with most of us drinking over two-and-a-half cans a day. A lot of that is flavored with fructose, which is theorized to be part of the reason that so many Americans are overweight. The diet soda industry touts itself as a no-calorie alternative, but some studies show that the artificial sweeteners trick you into overeating, which defeats the purpose. Those of us who realize that go with water, but that has its own issues, as outlined in the next entry,
