I have a problem with commercials. Some of them are funny...I will admit I get a giggle out of a few (ESPN commercials especially). But others...they're just dumb, and they make me angry. And they make us all dumber. I will go over a few particular examples and why they annoy me. And this isn't all of them, just the ones that I can think of off the top of my head.
1) Product: Unknown, Selling point: Whole grains make you lose weight.
So I don't even know what the commercial is selling (something grain-y), some product geared towards women who want to slim down. Whatever. It starts with two women talking (again, I don't even know where they are or what they're doing, I'm just so irritated with the commercial I tune it all out). One woman says to the other, "You look great! (maybe also You've lost weight...I'm not sure) How do you do it?" while the other replies, "Eating right. Whole grains!" Then the commercial goes on to say something along the lines of "Studies show that people who eat whole grains tend to weigh less." I find this ridiculous/funny because they are IMPLYING that eating whole grains will cause you to lose weight, however they know they can't outright say it in their commercial, so they just say that people who eat whole grains "tend" to weigh less. That's like saying women who wear sports bras "tend" to weigh less than those who don't. Correlation DOES NOT EQUAL causality. People who eat whole grains (and women who wear sports bras) are doing it because they're health concious (and the women in sports bras are probably going to the gym). Health concious people are more likely to not eat a bunch of sugar, they probably watch their calorie intake, and they also probably try to excercise. Eating whole grains does not cause weight loss. Don't be fooled by their implications and their bad science! Use your own logical minds! "Suzie likes the color red. Suzie is a girl. Therefore, all girls like the color red." FALSE! Just because the chick in the commercial eats whole grains and is looking "great" does not mean that eating whole grains is going to make everyone who eats them skinny!
2) Product: Tyson Chicken Nuggets, Selling point: Kids like them
This commercial (and others in this commercial series) is really irritating. Okay, so kids are picky. So instead of making them eat their veggies or whatever dinner you put in front of them, you're going to let them just eat whatever they want? What about when they need to eat those things? I'm not a parent, so I have NO idea how difficult this will be when the time comes, but as it stands now I have a feeling I'll be a mean mom and will say to my kid, "Tough cookies, eat your dadgum green beans! I didn't eat my veggies when I was a kid and it made me mean, so eat them or else you'll be mean to your kids too!" I really hope I won't just let my kid skip their veggies because they "don't like it"...I mean, I like ice cream better than spinach, but I know I can't have ice cream for every meal (bummer, I know). Chicken nuggets aren't exactly a "healthy" meal, you know? "Well, little Bobby won't eat his spinach or carrots or green beans or freshly baked chicken breast...I know, lets give him little mounds of uniformly shaped chicken product coated in some gluten, sodium and sugar!" No thanks. And like the SNL skit says, "If it McComes from where I McThink it does - I don't want to McEat it!"
3) Product: Kid's cereal commercials, Selling point: again, has whole grains and/or fiber!
Here's a good example of one of these commercials. This makes me so angry/sad! Let's all just take a step back and realize that Fruit Loops is what it is...a sugary cereal that turns your milk colors and gives you a big fat sugar high! What? It has 3 grams of fiber? Super. It also has 12 grams of sugar and 25 total grams of carbs per serving. If you want to get your kid some fiber feed him/her a serving of strawberries or an apple. Don't try to make Fruit Loops in to something it's not...it's NOT a health food...it's just sweet, empty calories. I also love how the commercials always talk about "essential whole grains" like they're just as necessary as vitamins. They're not. Sure, they've been chemically altered and "enriched" to include some vitamins/minerals in them, but you can get those vitamins and minerals in REAL food, like fruits and veggies and meat...and those things don't have to be "enriched" by scientists and food labs.
Okay, I'm done with my rant for now. Thanks for listening. :)
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