How Social Media is Influencing Your Health Choices

 We’re all living in a world where decisions are made based on visual appeal. Will this look good on the ‘gram? We interact with other posts based on what is most visually appealing…but it goes much further than this. Grocery stores and malls are capitalizing on this obsession by marketing their items to the Instagram customer: the prettiest stores and labels get the most sales, while the most high-quality products may not be as successful if their brand is not as visually appealing.

This is exemplified with Halo Top ice cream. They somehow managed to convince consumers that ice cream is “healthy.” Sure, it has less calories than other ice cream brands. But did you know that the entire pint is 256 grams, compared to Ben & Jerry’s 428 grams? That means you’re paying for a whole lot of AIR. But people rarely even question the brand’s claim, because the packaging is pretty and they said what everyone wants to hear: go ahead, eat the whole pint GUILT-FREE. But then you look at the sales, which show that people are consuming this stuff 5-10x per week (doesn’t seem so healthy when you put it that way, right?) and paying more money for less product.

This post is not intended to solely bash on Halo Top, but to increase your awareness as you face daily decisions on which products and brands to purchase. Don’t just accept companies’ claims because they sound good. Fall back on what you know (moderation!) – 5-10 pints of ice cream per week is not healthy, end of story.

Have any other great examples? Drop them in the comments below!