Nationwide obesity epidemic? Energy and gas crisis? So what.

by jill ~ October 3, 2008

I’ve noticed a troubling new advertising trend recently.  It’s a bold move by marketers who know that Americans  aren’t stupid - we know high fructose corn syrup is bad, we see gas prices going up and are worried about it - but corporations need these Americans to buy their products anyway.  So they address the concerns head on and then ask you to ignore what you know - a position that seems reckless to me.

Here are two major examples of this I’ve seen in the last few weeks:

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup - The public service announcement-type ads put out by the Corn Refiner’s Association are reminiscent of the ones that told us a few years ago that lean pork and chicken had the same nutrional value.  They are meant to assure us that high fructose corn syrup isn’t bad for us - in moderation, it’s just like sugar.  Right?  Only, it’s not.  It’s filled with unnatural ingredients and it’s widely accepted as a negative in any diet.  For more on this campaign, please see this, this, this or this article.

2. “So what if there’s a gas crisis? That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun in your car!”  This was (basically) the closing statement in a car commercial I saw yesterday (but can’t find it anywhere online).  Slightly apalling if you ask me and totally irresponsible - I get that they need to unload these SUVs and that the auto industry is hurting right now, but these kinds of ads can’t possibly appeal to customers. 

Or can they?  Are we just looking for an excuse to be gas guzzlers, to eat all the high fructose corn syrup our hearts desire?  Giving us permission to do something we believe may be wrong is just the appeal they are banking on.