Supersize
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Supersize was a trademark that referred to the largest portion size available in meals offered by McDonald's. A smaller meal portion could be made larger by Supersizing the meal. It was initially adopted positively, and in common use meant to make something better by increasing its size. The term is no longer in use for its original purpose, due to negative connotations with obesity.
[edit] Origination
The term supersized is a marketing technique that was developed in the mid-90s by McDonald's. Employees would ask “Would you like that supersized?” or “Would you like to supersize that?”, after taking an order (Similar to the question 'Would you like fries with that'). The idea behind this promotion is that for an extra 49 cents a customer could dramatically increase the size of his or her meal. This promotion was such a success that other fast food chains, such as Burger King and Wendy’s, started their own versions of this marketing technique.
Supersizing was the brainchild of David Wallerstein, a McDonald's executive who worked for a chain of movie theaters in the 1950s and 1960s. While working at the movie theaters, Wallerstein was tasked with boosting sales of popcorn and soda. Wallerstein discovered that it was very difficult to persuade customers to purchase more than one soda or bag of popcorn, because, he suspected, doing so made people feel greedy or gluttonous. However, Wallerstein discovered that customers would pay more to purchase more up front. Although Ray Kroc was initially skeptical of Wallerstein's proposal to "supersize" McDonalds' offerings (believing that people who wanted more fries would buy two bags), he eventually agreed to try Wallerstein's idea. The sales results led to the program being rolled out throughout McDonalds' stores.
[edit] Adaptation
Immediately after the beginning of its use, popular culture adopted the term in a positive light. To Supersize meant to make something better by making it bigger (e.g. making a car larger, from a sedan to an SUV). The NBC television network even marketed programs with a longer-than-normal duration as "Supersized episodes."
However, critics of the fast food industry (and by extension McDonald's) had begun criticizing the use of the term as representing everything that is wrong about the fast food industry, or consumerism in general. Super Size Me, a film by Morgan Spurlock, is generally credited with associating the term Supersize with obesity. After its release, the term adopted this negative connotation. Largely as a result of the film's popularity, McDonald's dropped the use of both the term and the portion size from its menu, although claiming that the cessation had nothing to do with the movie.
A unionization and workers rights campaign in New Zealand has adopted the 'SuperSize' for its own name, SupersizeMyPay.com, targeting the fast-food industry. The name attempts to claim the moral high ground by making the implication that if businesses are willing to 'SuperSize' customer's food portions to the point of encouraging the customer's own obesity, then the business should at least do the same for the wages of their employees.
Other Adaptations:
Perhaps in reaction to the negative connotations of the term 'Supersized' (in relation to obesity), as mentioned above, many people associated with the Fat Acceptance Movement use 'supersized' to designate a person who wears above a woman's size 28. This designation, although controversial within the fat community, is used primarily because people of this size face different challenges in terms of prejudice, societal pressures, and difficulty finding products and services, than their smaller counterparts. Used in this sense, 'supersized' is not meant to be derogatory, but rather an acknowledgment of the individual's physical attributes as well as the necessary bravery with which they must face life in our society.
