The Parable of Good (and Bad) Food

While advertising did shift to focus on the visual, there still is plenty of texts that use the strategy of the parable as outlined by Marchand in Chapter 7, "The Great Parables" in Advertising the American Dream.  The advertising of the 20's and 30's used parables to sell products and "reinforce a modern, secular "logic of living."

The advertising parables did this by using the techniques of biblical parables- vivid/radical comparisons, hyperbole, focus on practical moral lesson from incidents of everyday life (p. 207). Advertising parables "offer comfortable rather than distasteful truths," seek to persuade versus confront and promise that there are "no insurmountable limitations" and offer "a reality easily within reach of their hearts' desires" (p. 207).

Today, we already have bought the modern, secular "logic of living." Today, the parables are used in only slightly more subtle ways.

From side of box of pasta:

Did you know that pasta really is a GOOD CARB?

PASTA has only a moderate effect on blood glucose levels, unlike other starches such as white bread, rice and potatoes, which means PASTA is not as readily converted into sugar.

PASTA is low on the Glycemic Index (GI)- and low GI Foods are digested more slowly, stay in the digestive system longer and help to naturally satisfy hunger! So, eating a delicious meal that includes PASTA can truly be one of your more healthful alternatives.

The dramatic characters of the text are the addressed "you" and PASTA. The moral of the story is that there are good and bad calories, good and bad food and that you have the power to choose the healthy, the right, the good- PASTA with its low GI- from the unhealthy, the wrong, the bad (potatoes, white bread and (white) rice with their high GI. According to the text, if you choose, PASTA, which in all but one case is printed in bold and all caps, you can know that you eating good for you food. The text does not have to do a lot of work because of the society wide obsession with choosing "good" food. This is not just related to obesity; it also pops up in the natural/organic food movement.