Can calorie labels make people more fat?

Ezra Klein wrote in today’s Post about how fast food chains may soon come out with ad campaigns boasting about people being able to buy more calories for less money. This seems like another twist in the ’super size me’ generation, with a well intentioned law losing it’s punch thanks to the ingenuity of mega food corporations. One example sited is Subways current ad campaign on the foot-long sandwiches and their popularity despite the high calorie amount listed in the menu.

It’s not hard to imagine Hardee’s — home of the Monster Thickburger — kicking off a campaign promising 2,000 calories for under five bucks. And if that campaign works, other fast food outlets could move in a similar direction, putting at least one or two mega-calorie options on their value menu. Fast food outlets have long asserted that they were giving you a lot of food for your money. Now they’ll be able to make that argument with numbers. Indeed, you might end up with some outlets advertising how many calories you get for your money, while others tout the lightness of their meals.

I find this rather discouraging to say the least.

Via the Washington Post.