Image Analysis

http://www.drivethrudiet.com/menu

Taco Bell’s new “Drive-Thru Diet Menu,” it certainly provides an easy way to eat healthy, or does it? This advertisement looks pretty much like any other food advertisement you see out there. All of the tacos and burritos look absolutely perfect with vibrant colors that make their food look to die for, even though when you see it in real life, as well as with the way you feel after eating it, you feel more like you want to die. There are some reasons why this advertisement makes these sloppy globs of meat, sauce, and potentially E. coli infested veggies look delectable. To make it look as appealing as possible the designer applied balance and emphasis to this image. The order of these tacos provides balance by placing two tacos and a burrito on either side of the central burrito. The background coloring also gives the image balance in that the top has lighter colors surrounded by darker colors on each side and then the reverse is present on the bottom part of the image. This advertisement also emphasizes the Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco by having an arrow pointing straight at it causing the viewer’s eyes to be drawn there.

When people talk about a diet they are almost always referring to it being a diet to lose weight, as is the case with this advertisement originally. I took the word diet and by adding some text at the bottom I made it into a less conventional way to use the word diet, as in just food that you consume be it to lose weight or not. People from our modern American society I feel are obsessed with diets, clearly shown by the prevalence of commercials for things like the Subway diet, the South Beach Diet, Lean Cuisine, The Atkins Diet, and countless others. This diet adds to those others to create what Barthes (Mythologies) would likely refer to as a signified that diets are the trendy thing to do and that you can make a diet out of any food, no matter how unhealthy it normally is for you. I find it quite remarkable that our society today buys into things like this. I feel this way because if they really just took the time to look at the facts they would realize that 1,010 calories, 24g of fat, and 4,040mg of sodium in one meal is really not going to help you lose weight or get healthier.