Researchers have found that preschoolers are already being influenced by advertising, specifically from the Golden Arches. Dr. Thomas Robinson of the Stanford University School of Medicine found that preschoolers said burgers and fries tasted better when they came in McDonald's wrappers instead of plain wrapping, even though the food was from the same order. Robinson and his colleagues surveyed 63 children from ages three to five by offering five pairs of foods and asking if they tasted the same or to point to the one that tasted better. About 60 percent of the time, the kids preferred food from a McDonald's wrapper. The preschoolers even said the baby carrots tasted better from the fast-food chain.

In response, a McDonald's Corporation spokesperson said the company is working on advertising healthier alternatives, as they recently did with their "Shrek" campaign that promoted fruits, veggies and milk.

Entrepreneurs face many challenges when it comes to starting their own business, from raising capital to writing a good business plan. But entrepreneurs in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, Nigeria and Colombia face a different sort of battle. According to the results of a study from Cornell University's Johnson School of Management, entrepreneurial success depends on a nation's political stability. Wesley Sine, assistant professor of management and organizations, and Shon Hiatt, a Cornell graduate student, presented their findings yesterday at a conference in Philadelphia. The researchers followed 730 Colombian entrepreneurs over the course of four years and found that political violence makes it more difficult for entrepreneurs to obtain capital and to find potential business partners or clients. "In our sample of entrepreneurial ventures in Colombia, political turmoil inhibited the willingness and ability of these entrepreneurs to expand their social networks and thereby grow their businesses," said Sine.

Their solution may be easier said than done: Sine and Hiatt suggest these governments create incentives for entrepreneurship and allow small-business owners to safely broaden their networks.

They say a picture's worth a thousand words. Well, in this case, I would say it's worth even more than that. Blogger Wendy Maynard found a website called Ads vs. Reality with images of what fast food meals look like in an advertisement versus what they look like straight from the drive-thru. As Maynard points out, these pictures prove why it's so important to have professional pictures taken of your products for advertising. Just look at the difference between the work of a professional photographer with a food stylist on set compared to average people snapping a shot of their burger on the kitchen table. Warning: You may never want to eat fast food again after viewing these images. Especially the "KFC Famous Bowl" and the "McDonald's Sausage Breakfast Burrito."