The cartoon character Shrek last week won the "Offul" award from Common Sense Media for his participation in dozens of awful junk-food marketing messages and, simultaneously, the Ad Council's public health commercial promoting physical activity.
See the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Boston Globe for more coverage of the charming green ogre's two-headed character. Hat tip to the Shaping Youth blog.
See the cereal with 15g sugar in a single one-cup serving!
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Ingredients: SUGAR, CORN FLOUR, MARSHMALLOW BITS (SUGAR, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, CORN SYRUP, DEXTROSE, GELATIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SODIUM HEXAMATAPHSOPHATE, YELLOW # 5, RED # 40, YELLOW # 6, BLUE # 1), WHOLE OAT FLOUR, WHEAT FLOUR, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, SALT, COLOR ADDED, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL†, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, ZINC OXIDE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), BHT (PRESERVATIVE), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), VITAMIN A PALMITATE, FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D.†LESS THAN 0.5g TRANS FAT PER SERVING.
2 comments:
Just how dumb can parents be? Can't they see the #1 ingredient is sugar? That makes it a CANDY, not a Breakfast.
As a bonus, you get some PHO!
Shame on greedy Kelloggs for making this cereal!
Shame on greedy Dreamworks for trying to turn kids into Shrek-sized people.
We actually do a riff on this "Shrek Drek" in our counter-marketing sessions in Shaping Youth to teach label lingo and media literacy...
For starters, "multi-grain with marshmallows" should get any thinking soul's attention...
Here are a couple more Shaping Youth reader faves:
Pink Princess Fairytale Flakes: Candy Bar For Breakfast
http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog//?p=311
And here's our Shrek Drek counter-marketing piece: http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog//?p=475
Lots more in a link list on this recent post about junk food 'light' being repackaged for schools to slip under the guidelines...
http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=662
Thanks for the ping, and keep up the great work!
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