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Brophy Roundup

The Student News Site of Brophy College Preparatory

Brophy Roundup

The Student News Site of Brophy College Preparatory

Brophy Roundup

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Familiarity, branding is the downfall of the battle against big business

Commentary by Sean Harris ’11
THE ROUNDUP

Everyone knows McDonald’s food is bad, right?

With kitchens that smell like blocked arteries, the fight against fast food has been waging fiercely as of late, and with the Summit on Human Dignity being focused in on the issue of food, Brophy students are likely to carry this hamburger hate in the same fashion as they adorned Nike “Slavery” shirts last year.

However, every person who says they hate McDonalds and their evil unhealthy food has also had the concept of McDonald’s shoved down their throats until it has become a staple in our culture. And therein lies the problem.

Society is drawn to what they are comfortable with, change is not good.

So sure, people might whine and complain about “Super Size Me,” but in the end they are going to go to the one that brings them the most comfort, which usually involves some degree of familiarity.

Despite the fact that the Mom and Pop owned restaurant might be doing everything better than the typical fast food place, they still lose because they don’t have a commercial playing during Monday Night Football.

This goes for every larger than life company, like Nike, who caught considerable flak during last year’s summit.

This is all common sense; I’m saying this to level expectations. Picking a fight against big cooperations such as Nike or McDonald’s is not the same as David and Goliath. In this battle, Goliath doesn’t even notice the pebbles.

Brophy cannot compete against these Goliaths, they cannot get them to change their ways.

What we should focus on however is the individual.

As an individual, do I choose to take a stand against something I know is wrong, or do I continue to look the other way because it’s convenient?

Students at Brophy should have it made pretty clear to them what the right decision is. It’s the motto of the school “man for others.”

I’m not saying that I’m holier-than-thou. I still pig out at In-and-Out and buy things without questioning their suspicious origins.

That’s an individual choice.

What’s important to remember during the Summit this year is that not everyone goes to Brophy to learn about the problems with society. They will continue to fall for the problems of familiarity and branding.

It’s up to the individual.

Read more Summit-related articles in the 2011 Summit Special Section.

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