The food police are on the march

[whell]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

It's like cigarettes. Companies are profiting by marketing products that are known to be destructive of good health - and they spend billions in advertising them. Advertising is based on social sciences. Products are marketed in a way that has proven to be effective at convincing people of whatever the advertiser wants to convince them of. If one has any doubt about the ability of marketers to convince masses of people, just look at how many people actually believe that Fox is "fair and balanced" or that Beck is actually teaching history.

Regards,

D-Ray

So by watching a commercial I become incapable of making choices?

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

So by watching a commercial I become incapable of making choices?

How about McDonald's marketing to children? Granted, it's the parents who buy Happy Meals. But they do so after their kids beg for it and their parents acquiesce because they're tiring of the whining or they don't want to deprive their kids of the McDonald's "cultural experience." Scoff if you will, but it's true.

Other examples are the candy display at your grocery store checkout and the whole "food is fun" BS from Outback, Chili's, Applebee's and other purveyors of deep fried salty food. Are you jonesing for some Outback Aussie Cheese Fries or a Chili's Awesome Blossom . How does 2,900 calories and 182 grams of fat per order grab you?

Bon Appetit.

And America is not being poisoned? A diet of this chit is every bit as deadly (actually more so) than exposure to hundreds of industrial chemicals (i.e., poisons) at their OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL). Perhaps I've employed a bit of hyperbole, but not much if you consider the facts.

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

How about McDonald's marketing to children? Granted, it's the parents who buy Happy Meals. But they do so after their kids beg for it and their parents acquiesce because they're tiring of the whining or they don't want to deprive their kids of the McDonald's "cultural experience." Scoff if you will, but it's true.

I've got a 9 year old and two 5 year olds. They love McDonalds. We take them, but if we take them once every few months (which is about what we do), it won't kill them. We run the house and make the choices about what to eat and when. The battle ain't just about Happy Meals. The battle is every night, and its also about green beans and carrots. We just make sure the kids eat what they should, which I think is our job as parents. Sure, some parents don't, but we don't need to create legislation and the ensuing bureaucracies based on the 80 - 20 rule.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

I've got a 9 year old and two 5 year olds. They love McDonalds....

...and I wonder why that is.

I conceded way back in this thread that I don't believe in a city government regulating trans fats and that I don't have an easy answer to the obesity and diet-derived health problems in this country.

BTW, aren't you the same fella who proposed making people pay health insurance premiums in accordance with their lifestyle choices (diet, alcohol, smoking)? Yet, you object to regulating trans fats which have been shown to contribute to heart disease and diabetes. There are natural alternatives to these dangerous substances and always have been. Their primary purpose is to increase the shelf life and decrease refrigeration requirements of processed foods (primarily baked goods). It seems to me we can get rid of trans fats and eat fresher, more healthy real food as a result. What's not to like?

So we should protest the government regulating such substances while acquiescing to having private companies jack up our insurance rates based upon their views as to what impacts our health. Interesting.

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by finnbow

...and I wonder why that is.

I conceded way back in this thread that I don't believe in a city government regulating trans fats and that I don't have an easy answer to the obesity and diet-derived health problems in this country.

BTW, aren't you the same fella who proposed making people pay health insurance premiums in accordance with their lifestyle choices (diet, alcohol, smoking)? Yet, you object to regulating trans fats which have been shown to contribute to heart disease and diabetes. There are natural alternatives to these dangerous substances and always have been. Their primary purpose is to increase the shelf life and decrease refrigeration requirements of processed foods (primarily baked goods). It seems to me we can get rid of trans fats and eat fresher, more healthy real food as a result. What's not to like?

So we should protest the government regulating such substances while acquiescing to having private companies jack up our insurance rates based upon their views as to what impacts our health. Interesting.

But see, Finn, if we leave it to big business to make all of the decisions, they get to control our lives without having to deal with the middlemen in office. You know, those danged politicians aren't always dependable even when they pay good money for them.

Regards,

D-Ray

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

...and I wonder why that is.

Its because we take them there for an easy, kid friendly meal. Its our fault. We're bad parents! No, they didn't see the commercials. They don't watch much besides the PBS kids channel. An interesting aside: now that my oldest daughter is on a gluten - free diet, we don't go to Mickey D's nearly as much. The highlight of the trip used to be the french fries, until we discovered that there is an additive with gluten that is used in their french fries.

Originally Posted by finnbow

BTW, aren't you the same fella who proposed making people pay health insurance premiums in accordance with their lifestyle choices (diet, alcohol, smoking)?

Yup, that's me.

Originally Posted by finnbow

Yet, you object to regulating trans fats which have been shown to contribute to heart disease and diabetes.

Yup, I do.

Originally Posted by finnbow

There are natural alternatives to these dangerous substances and always have been. Their primary purpose is to increase the shelf life and decrease refrigeration requirements of processed foods (primarily baked goods). It seems to me we can get rid of trans fats and eat fresher, more healthy real food as a result. What's not to like?

A nanny government that over-reaches into any aspect of our lives they so choose, where they are not specifically entitled to do so.

Originally Posted by finnbow

So we should protest the government regulating such substances while acquiescing to having private companies jack up our insurance rates based upon their views as to what impacts our health. Interesting.

The health insurance angle on this is for another thread - don't want to yank this one too far off topic. Suffice to say that we elected to hitch our wagon to a particular horse (medical insurance), and now we want to shoot the horse because we've decided to load too much crap in the wagon.

[JJIII]

Originally Posted by finnbow

How about McDonald's marketing to children? Granted, it's the parents who buy Happy Meals. But they do so after their kids beg for it and their parents acquiesce because they're tiring of the whining or they don't want to deprive their kids of the McDonald's "cultural experience." Scoff if you will, but it's true.

Those aren't parents, they're adults living in the same house.

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by whell

So by watching a commercial I become incapable of making choices?

Are you suggesting that American Companies are wasting billions and billions of dollars on advertising?

Businesses advertise to influence behavior. Ultimately, the individual has a choice, but sometimes that choice can be based on false impressions created by advertising, or simply on the successful correlation between a product and other desires - like getting laid by drinking the right beer - or even by drinking beer in general; or buying the manly beer; or being a bad mother by choosing the wrong brand of peanut butter; or being rough and rugged by buying a three ton pick-up; or don't vote for this guy because he murders babies; and the list goes on and on.

Regards,

D-Ray

[whell]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

Are you suggesting that American Companies are wasting billions and billions of dollars on advertising?

You've avoided my question, I see. "So by watching a commercial I become incapable of making choices?"

Originally Posted by d-ray657

Businesses advertise to influence behavior. Ultimately, the individual has a choice, but sometimes that choice can be based on false impressions created by advertising, or simply on the successful correlation between a product and other desires - like getting laid by drinking the right beer - or even by drinking beer in general; or buying the manly beer; or being a bad mother by choosing the wrong brand of peanut butter; or being rough and rugged by buying a three ton pick-up; or don't vote for this guy because he murders babies; and the list goes on and on.

Some people actually have the intellectual capacity to reason things out on their own. I'm a big football fan, so I get bombarded by beer and car commercials. Ultimately, I don't drink much beer, and I'm still tooling around in a 1998 Olds Bravada. Go figure...

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by whell

You've avoided my question, I see. "So by watching a commercial I become incapable of making choices?"



Some people actually have the intellectual capacity to reason things out on their own. I'm a big football fan, so I get bombarded by beer and car commercials. Ultimately, I don't drink much beer, and I'm still tooling around in a 1998 Olds Bravada. Go figure...

Ultimately, the individual has a choice,

I believe the above responded to your question. I suggest that, in the name of honesty, you retract the first statement of your last post.

Now, do you deny that companies spend billions on advertising in order to influence behavior?

Can you say that none of your choices are affected by advertising?

The second question gives you an opportunity to brag, and the first tests your ability to actually acknowledge a fact contrary to your position.

Regards,

D-Ray