A look at the fast food industry–an important contributor to the emerging obesity epidemic—courtesy of MSNBC and Newsweek. The skinny (or not so skinny, as the case may be) is that fast food chains like Burger King are getting back to fundamentals: greasy, fat-laden food. Forget about low-fat sandwiches; BK’s new strategy revolves around items like the Enormous Omellete Sandwich that tips the scales at 760 calories.
As it turns out "hard core" fast food consumers make up only 18 percent of the general US population, but represent 49 percent of the sales for fast food outlets. The target demographic? Men, 18- to 34-years-old, who don’t much like their jobs. BK can safely play to its (ever-expanding) base with increasingly unhealthy menu items, because they can count on industry giant McDonald’s taking the flak from what BK’s CEO dubs "the nutrition Nazis."
