A Spoonful Of Sugar Helps Your Weight Go Down?
By admin
Last week, Dan shared “One of the Biggest Con Jobs In Advertising History” with me. I definitely recommend reading it.
I knew there was no way I could just look it over and move on.
That was a real ad from the 60s!
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think of the 60s as being all that long ago. I, at least thought that we were a little bit more ahead of nutrition than this ad dictates.
And this is just one of a span of ads trying to popularize sugar and make it seem like a “super food”. Able to help you lose weight, stay energized and live a healthy life.
It was the “chia seed of the 60s”!
Clearly, they were on to something. After all:
- There are only 18 calories per teaspoon
- And it is a quick energy source
But wow! Forget that sugar digestion starts in your mouth and is only leaves you craving more sugar. Forget the fact that it spikes your blood sugar, gives you energy and then drops it faster than Miley Cyrus can drop her tush.
Here are a few more clever ads that left my jaw on the floor.
And my personal favorite from the 70′s:
Those kids that were thin because of eating sugar all day? That’s funny. Childhood obesity continues to rise.
According to the CDC childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years.
Of course now we know that simple sugar is pretty much the devil when it comes to trying to lose weight.
These are only a few of the ads from the article, if you want to be even more shocked check them out here.
Who’s To Blame?
Is it because of advertisements like these that sparked our country’s addiction to sugar?
After all, science shows time and time again that sugar is just as addicting as a drug. Perhaps the companies behind these ads should be blamed for kick starting what’s become an epidemic… obesity.
I know those are strong words, but it’s no secret that we’re a culture easily influenced.
Case & Point:
–> Fats are bad? Well, let’s go with fat-free Fig Newtons, fat-free ice cream, fat-free Oreos… these must be better, right? (Don’t worry, I was queen of the “non-fats” in college.
–> Carbs are Satin’s doing? Forget it, let’s all toss out our bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, fruit, and everything else that is filled with a gram of carbohydrates. Protein me up instead!
–> Gluten-free is where it’s at? Okay, I’ll take the pasta but the “gluten-free” variety.
Now, please don’t misconstrue what I have listed above. I don’t think that going gluten-free is being a puppet on a string. I truly do think that many people benefit from a gluten free diet. I am however, trying to make the point that we (yes, me too) follow whats “in”.
We want to believe that the advertisers are giving us the most up to date information. And that that information is for our better good.
What Will Our Kids Gawk At?
Immediately after I looked over all of the ads, I wondered what our kids (or grandkids) will one day look at and go:
“Wow, can you believe they fell for this?”
Like me, and you, they will look at old commercials and print ads and be thankful that they aren’t handed such ridiculous info. They’ll laugh at how naive we must have been and give themselves a pat on their backs for being wiser.
At about this time, they will walk to their pantry and grab for whatever it is that’s “trendy”.
What will be our “Sugar helps you lose weight and stay energized” ads?
- All ads are from the noted article, Biggest Cons In Advertising.