Monday, October 15, 2007

Shrek, the two-headed ogre

To my grandmother, "schreck" meant something frightful. The newer word "Offul" means a media message so bad, you just want to turn it off.

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!


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:

  1. 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.

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  2. 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!

    ReplyDelete