I was driving through town with my kids yesterday, when, about 5 minutes from home, my 9 year old points at a Holiday Inn we were passing and said he wanted to stay the night there sometime. Odd, I thought - are my kids getting that desperate for a vacation that the local Holiday Inn looks appealing? I asked him why he wanted to stay there and he said it was because it advertised a pool on the sign. And I, ever the burster of bubbles, mentioned that the pool was probably really small, and not very nice, and therefore not a good place to go. But maybe they have a waterpark, Mom? Not likely, since it doesn't say anything about it on the sign. But he still wasn't totally convinced, thinking that the pool must be nice at a HOLIDAY Inn.
Which got me to thinking, once again, about just how misleading advertising can be, and how easy it is to be fooled by titles and descriptions. Now, I am not accusing the Holiday Inn of being misleading, because they're not. However, it's easy to see how a 9 year old boy, feeling like he could use a little holiday, could think what he thought when he read what he read. Shouldn't a Holiday Inn, by definition, have a fun pool? I actually did go to their website, and while there is absolutely nothing wrong with their pool, it looks as average as just about every other hotel pool I've seen. I can think of better places to take a holiday...
This also got me thinking of how food advertising most definitely IS misleading at worst, and requires very diligent label-reading at best. Maybe you heard about the lady in California recently who was suing Nutella over their not-so-healthy chocolate spread? You've probably heard of buyer-beware, a very applicable term in this situation. There's the school of thought which basically says that if a product has to tell you how healthy it is, it probably isn't. Apples and broccoli don't come with labels, after all.
The following is a list of some of the more outrageous food advertising that I've seen or heard recently:
Kraft Dinner - Enriched with BOLD (is bold supposed to be healthy? how is a food enriched with bold anyway?)
Cheez Whiz - Adds Personality (since when does our food need personality? don't people have personality? and is cheez whiz really food?)
Coke - Pour Some Happiness/ Brings moms and families together (how does one pour happiness? can a family not be brought together by pouring something that doesn't have so many teaspoons of sugar, such as water?)
Ranch Dressing - No artificial flavors (so you're telling me that xanthan gum, polysorbate 60 and silicon dioxide, among others, are what, natural?)
Pop Tarts - Life should be sprinkled with happiness, frosted with possibilities and filled with fun....so you can feel good about sharing the fun of pop tarts with your kids (really...so that's the key to happiness!)
Froot Loops - fortified with 11 essential vitamins and minerals, low in fat, now provides fiber. (I'll keep this is mind the next time I'm craving something healthy)
Honey Nut Cheerios - according to the ads on TV, they just might prevent a heart attack! (good to know, isn't it?)
And, last but not least, make sure to get your money's worth at McDonalds! After all, their chicken nuggets are a symbol of JOY (the O is a nugget). (Don't get me started on this one!)
This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination, but isn't it easy to see how people might be fooled into thinking something is either healthy to eat or will bring them some sort of happiness if they eat it? Especially if that person is young or uneducated. Or maybe gullible. I am definitely not immune to these types of advertising, although I tend to make much more informed choices these days. (True story - as of about 12 years ago, I'd never had a filet of fish at McDonalds. It just never appealed to me. Then one day, while watching TV, an ad came on showing someone eating one, and I immediately was hungry for one and went out THAT HOUR and bought myself one.) This is actually embarrassing to admit, as I am usually not that easily influenced. But I just wanted you to know how easy it is to be sucked in to the beauty of advertising.
Can you think of any food advertising that is particularly misleading that I haven't mentioned?
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7 comments:
Just wanted to let you know that Maddison got a job at McDonalds a few weeks ago! :) I am not defending any food stuff but just thought I should let you know she is quite proud to be working there!
I do get quite frustrated trying to read food labels and make sense of them. I have started trying to be much more diligent in checking out what I buy... so much so that when the girls are with me and ask for something on the shelf, they will say "Don't read the label Mom!".
What a great topic! I've seen the Nutella commercials, too, and we have been eating it lately, but if you actually read the label, it's high in fat and calories. I like the taste, but it's not really healthy. Unless you count the nuts. Otherwise, it's milk and cocoa. I think a good guide to buying food is - if you see it advertised on tv, it's probably not good for you. (Although there were ads for broccoli running a while back) So did I succumb to the ads about Nutella? Maybe, but then I read the label and we'll definitely eat it less often now. Another ingredient in salad dressings is something called propylene glycol alginate. Check out this chemical online - it's not a health food.
Melanie
Oh man, that's too funny about the hotel pool! Good luck trying to change the kids minds about it!
And you know my thoughts about food. I agree, if it's wrapped in plastic and has more than a few ingredients, it's probably not a good idea.
Great post Teresa! Actually, xanthan gum is a natural product often used in gluten free cooking. It is used in many dressings, sauces, etc. as a thickening agent. When you take gluten out of food, you need to replace it with xanthan or guar gum. If you read labels regularly, you will see xanthan gum everywhere. It is definitely a natural product!
And you didn't even get to talkin' 'bout the ads on the tele. Twinkle Toes--better and brighter, bakugans, and electronic Monopoly. Fluffy bunnies and squishy goo all become "needs" so very quickly. Yes, we must we wary of what we get suckered into: "Be careful little eyes what you see..." :)
Love this. Have to say you deserve a hi 5 for this one!
Interesting about the xanthan gum - I guess with a name like that, it doesn't sound natural! Still... there are just a few too many hard-to-pronounce or identify ingredients on most labels. I'm not saying I never eat these things, because I do, but they are really starting to freak me out!
Thanks for all the comments!
I do NOT generally research food components, so I'm not defending any here, but I imagine there are a number of them with long, chemical or scientific-sounding names that we are not familiar with, but are perfectly legit. In fact, I thought that about xanthan gum when you mentioned it.
I happened to look at my lotion bottle this morning and the first ingredient was AQUA. Why can't they just say "water"? Or is there a difference??
I, too, have succumbed to getting a taste for something when I have seen it advertised--a Swiss Chalet dinner special, for instance!
Sharon A.
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