Presenting Arguments and Weight Watchers

     For this week’s reading in Everything’s An Argument we read about presenting arguments. It talked about different colors, fonts, text size, and other visual arguments used. This made me think about how these different strategies are used in the food industry. I see them used especially on packaged food. The Weight Watchers food is a good example. When you are strolling down the frozen food aisle in the grocery store and see the section of bright red boxes, you know that that is the Smart Ones section. I was wondering though, how many people associate Smart Ones with Weight Watchers, if they are not in or have previously been in the program. When you look at the box the words Weight Watchers are printed in very small type at the top of the box. The points are printed rather large, but the majority of what the costumer sees is the food and the words Smart Ones. The way that their argument is presented tries to get away from any stigma that “diet” foods are gross or different. They use the bright red color to jump out at the consumer and make them want to look at the Smart Ones over the other frozen dinners. The pictures of the food on the front are always in vivid colors that make them look delicious. Even the diction used makes the food sound gourmet by using names for the food that sound like they have come from a five star restaurant. The Smart Ones boxes are smaller than the other frozen dinner boxes, but the consumer doesn’t notice because the pictures of the food on the box make it look like you are getting a large portion. All of the different tools that Weight Watchers use contribute to the consumer choosing Smart Ones over any other frozen dinner on the same aisle.