Friend or Foe: How Fast Food Marketing Promotes Overspending and Obesity

We all appreciate fast food for its convenience—a cheap, reliable, and tasty meal that’s accessible almost anywhere. But we also know fast food isn’t the healthiest choice. For example, a Combo Meal #3 at McDonald’s, which includes:

• Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese: 740 calories

• Large Fries: 490 calories

• Large Soda (Coca-Cola): 310 calories

That’s 1,540 calories in one sitting—roughly 75% of the average person’s daily caloric intake (2,000 calories). Just one meal, and you barely have room for the remaining 2-3 meals of the day.

The Real Culprit: Hidden Design Tactics

We can agree that consuming calorie-dense fast food promotes obesity. But even if you try to be cautious—whether you come in knowing what to order to stay within your calorie budget or you plan to build a healthy, high-protein meal (see related posts below)—you often spend more and consume more calories than planned.

Why does this happen?

It’s not entirely your fault. Fast food chains use intentional design tactics—from menu layouts to kiosk technology and even the smells wafting through the air—to push you toward spending more money and buying higher-calorie foods. These subtle psychological cues influence you to buy more, eat more, and ultimately gain more weight.

In this post, I’ll share specific strategies that I fell victim to during my own weight-loss journey, while incorporating research-backed insights that explain how fast food chains operate—with McDonald’s as the prime example.

🖼️ Strategy 1: More Pictures, Fewer Words

Take a look at a typical menu at your favorite local sit-down restaurant. You’ll probably see:

• Plain text with minimal design

• Dish names and brief descriptions

• Prices listed in simple font

Here is a menu from a local restaurant I enjoy going to, the Refuge. No frills, no pictures, just the basics.

Now, compare that to the McDonald’s menu when you walk into the store or use the drive-thru:

• Vibrant Pictures: Every item—from burgers and fries to drinks and desserts—has an enticing photo.

• Giant Combo Numbers: Large, bold numbers make ordering combos simple and quick.

This visual overload isn’t by accident.

The Power of Visual Cues

Fast-food chains use high-quality, enhanced food images because:

• Increased Cravings: Visual exposure to food triggers the brain’s reward system, increasing hunger and desire to purchase (van der Laan et al., 2012).

• Impulse Buying: Bright, appealing pictures reduce the cognitive effort required to read descriptions, making decisions more impulsive (Wansink & Love, 2014).

• Faster Processing: Images are processed 60,000 times faster than text by the brain, influencing quick decisions (Liu et al., 2012).

• Emotional Connection: Photos create sensory appeal, evoking emotional responses that override rational decision-making.

You see the perfectly toasted bun, crispy fries, and fizzy soda—and within seconds, your healthy intentions are gone. This tactic also heavily targets children, an impressionable group who process pictures faster but often struggle with reading.

🔢 Strategy 2: The Power of Combo Meal Numbers

“Let me get a number 3, please.” Easy, right? Compare that to saying:

• One Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese

• One order of Large Fries

• One large Diet Coke

Combo meals, identified by large, bold numbers, rely on a psychological concept known as the “anchoring effect.” Consumers tend to anchor decisions on the first piece of information they see—in this case, the giant combo number—making it easier to choose a high-calorie, higher-cost meal.

Why Combo Numbers Work

• Cognitive Ease: A study in Appetite (Cohen & Babey, 2012) showed that using numeric identifiers reduces decision-making time, making combo meals feel like the default option.

• Less Effort, More Calories: Saying “number 3” feels faster and more effortless than mentally piecing together individual items.

Without realizing it, you’ve chosen a larger meal, spent more money, and consumed hundreds of extra calories. Multiply this pattern over time, and you’re on a fast track to obesity.

🍔🍟🥤Strategy 3: Meticulous Menu Design

Take another look at the McDonald’s menu. Notice something?

• Every combo meal, McFlurry, and soda has an eye-catching picture.

• But what’s missing?

• The dollar menu, tucked away in a corner with a small font and no pictures.

Fast-food companies hide the cheaper, lower-calorie options because they don’t maximize profit. So while it would make sense—calorie-wise and financially—to grab a McDouble (400 calories, 22g protein) and 4-piece Chicken McNuggets (170 calories, 9g protein) for around $7, the dollar menu is barely highlighted.

Instead, you end up spending $12.29 for a 1,300-calorie Combo #3 instead of making a healthier, cheaper choice.

📱 Strategy 4: Digital Ordering Platforms

The fast-food industry has evolved beyond traditional counter service. Now, with self-order kiosks, mobile apps, and digital-exclusive deals, the game has changed—not in your favor.

No Rush, More Spending

Walk into any McDonald’s, and you’ll see the glowing kiosks inviting you to browse. Unlike a cashier, where there’s a natural time constraint, kiosks allow you to:

• Take Your Time Ordering 

  • No line rushing your decision.

  • More time = more temptation = more money spent.

• Unlimited Customizations & Upsells 

  • Want extra cheese? Double bacon? Larger fries? All just a tap away—and each tap adds calories and cost.

  • A 2021 study in the Journal of Consumer Psychology found that digital interfaces increase impulsive spending by removing social friction (Schlosser et al., 2021).

    
    

Fast Food Apps: Discounts That Lead to Overspending

At first glance, fast-food apps seem like a way to save money—but they’re designed to make you spend more:

• Foot-in-the-Door Technique 

  • McDonald’s App offers exclusive deals, like “Free Medium Fries with Any Purchase.” It sounds like a deal, but would you have bought anything otherwise?

  • Small “freebies” lure you in, and once you’re in, you’re likely to add on more items.

An example of the "free food" offered, as seen in the screenshot from my phone above.

• BOGO & Bundles 

  • Buy-One-Get-One-Free deals double your calorie intake by encouraging overconsumption (Just et al., 2014).

• Limited-Time Celebrity Meals 

  • Travis Scott Meal. Cardi B Meal. Angel Reese Meal.

  • These limited-time collabs create a false sense of urgency, leading to impulsive purchases (Chen et al., 2019).

Travis Scott is a great artist, with a strong following, and McDonald's leverages that to get fans to buy more food!

Loyalty Programs: The More You Spend, The More You Eat

McDonald’s app rewards frequent customers with points and free items, but here’s the catch:

• The more you spend, the more “free food” you unlock—trapping you in a cycle.

• You justify buying extra meals just to hit the next reward tier.

So what is the overall result for all of these tactics? More money spent on fast food, leading to more calories consumed!

Final Thoughts: Knowledge Is Power

While these digital tactics may be new in the last decade, the objective has remained the same: spend more money, eat more food, and boost company profits. And the consequence? Obesity rates have skyrocketed, along with related comorbidities like Type 2 Diabetes and hypertension.

My goal isn’t to scare you away from fast food. You can still enjoy a Combo #3 occasionally or build a healthier high-protein, low-calorie fast-food meal (as I’ve shown in past posts).

But awareness is key. Understanding these marketing tactics helps you make informed decisions and avoid falling into these traps.

Next time you’re at McDonald’s, pause and think: Am I really hungry, or am I just falling for marketing tricks?

Got questions or concerns? Feel free to message me at yash.kumar.wix@gmail.com. As always, thanks for reading!

References

1. van der Laan, L. N., de Ridder, D. T., Viergever, M. A., & Smeets, P. A. (2012). The first taste is always with the eyes: A meta-analysis on the neural correlates of processing visual food cues. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(4), 849-866.

2. Wansink, B., & Love, K. (2014). Slim by design: Menu psychology can subtly influence food choices. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(4), 413-418.

3. Liu, Y., & Wang, X. (2012). How fast can the brain process visual information? PLoS ONE, 7(4), e37674.

4. Cohen, D. A., & Babey, S. H. (2012). Candy at the cash register: A risk factor for obesity and chronic disease. Appetite, 59(2), 372-375.

5. Schlosser, A. E., White, T. B., & Lloyd, S. M. (2021). The impact of digital interfaces on impulsive food purchases. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 31(3), 515-528.

6. Hoyer, W. D., Labroo, A. A., & Schwartz, N. (2020). Choice architecture and consumer decision making: How pre-suggested options influence spending. Marketing Science, 39(6), 1245-1261.

7. Just, D. R., Wansink, B., & Mancino, L. (2014). BOGO and overeating: How buy-one-get-one-free promotions increase caloric intake. Appetite, 78(1), 81-87.

8. Chen, H., & Lee, E. J. (2019). The effects of limited-time offers on impulse buying and perceived scarcity. Journal of Retailing, 95(4), 511-523.

9. Patel, S., & Wansink, B. (2022). Loyalty programs and increased caloric consumption: A behavioral analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 49(2), 213-229.