You Are What You Eat?

1 comment April 18th, 2008

Wouldn’t life be easier if we could pick our president by comparing our grocery shopping lists?

Well, the New York Times asked two national market research experts to help them do just that.

If you like the crunch of Kashi GoLean cereal, the grease of Church’s Fried Chicken and the energy from a Luna Bar, you might be a Hillary Clinton supporter.

Obama followers would likely prefer to eat at the trendy Panera Bread bakery/restaurant, sweeten their beverages with Sugar in the Raw and shop at the local farmer’s market.

And those of you who prefer the monstrous Hardee’s burgers, DiGiorno’s Stuffed Crust pizza and SoBe Energy drinks are most likely to vote for McCain.

Here’s how the Times cooked up the politicians’ preferences:

Larry Finkel at MarketResearch.com used information on 25,000 people assembled by Simmons Market Research to develop a voter preference index based on store-bought cookies and restaurants. […]

(Obama’s) strength among latte drinkers was confirmed by the software developers and restaurant geeks who created Urbanspoon.com. Last year, they developed a steak-sushi index showing that cities with more steak restaurants also have more Republican victories. […]

Harvey Hartman of the Hartman Group applied the data he uses to help food companies understand consumer issues and came up with a grid that predicts voting patterns based on preferences for health and wellness products.

Of course, I am a big fan of DiGiorno’s pizza, Kashi GoLean cereal and Panera Bread, so I suppose that makes me a moderate.