Do they really think we’re going to fall for this?
Since all of my favorite TV shows have started back up for the season, it’s safe to say that I’ve been watching too much TV. I’ve been watching so much TV that I’ve actually been paying attention to commercials, which is something I usually do not do.
As I’ve been seeing these commercials, there have been a couple of them that have sparked an interest because they are concerning to me.
The first commercial that has concerned me is a spot for Velveeta cheese (well, I guess people consider it cheese.) It shows a woman perusing the grocery store with her shopping cart, and the narrator in the background is saying something about how in our day and time, it seems like everyone is cutting back, but not Velveeta. The point to the commercial is that while cheese packaging is getting smaller, Velveeta is still in the same size block it’s always been and cheaper than other choices. The ad ends with the slogan, “Forget cheddar, Velveeta’s better.”
I usually wouldn’t think twice about a commercial like this, but for some reason I did. Do they really have to throw in a political statement in a Velveeta commercial? The advertising company is not only using our weak economy to market Velveeta, but they are trying to compare it to actual cheese. Velveeta is a pasteurized cheese product and isn’t even in the same aisle as the other cheeses, so how can you compare the two?
The second commercial was one I’ve now seen several times. It is a commercial paid for by the Corn Refiners Association. They have started a huge campaign to try to get consumers to think again about buying products with high fructose corn syrup in them. I’ve seen their ads in magazines and newspapers as well.
There are a few commercials they have out now, but the one I saw shows two mothers at a party talking to each other. One mother has a huge jug of a Kool-Aid lookalike and is pouring it into a cup, presumably for her child. The other woman looks at her and says, “You don’t care what the kids eat? That has high fructose corn syrup in it.” The other woman responds with, “It’s made from corn, doesn’t have artificial ingredients and like sugar it’s fine in moderation.”
I really could not believe that the Corn Refiners Association was running a huge ad campaign to try to convince people that high fructose corn syrup is OK. They have had a big PR problem for many years since doctors have been telling us how unhealthy it is. Mothers are even told not to give their children fruit juice since much of it contains the syrup.
The line when the woman says, “It’s fine in moderation” is the part that kills me. Isn’t all food fine in moderation? And the fact that they have to admit that it’s OK only in moderation says a lot about the product. Trying to compare corn to corn syrup isn’t a good tactic, either. Corn is healthy on its own, but not when it’s processed and turned into something unnatural like high fructose corn syrup.
Maybe I’ve been watching too much TV, but I really don’t think either of these commercials are the best way to address and try to fix a PR problem. Consumers aren’t that stupid.