After looking at the Corn Refiners Association "Sweet Surprise" FAQ I am less of the opinion that these people are completely evil. That is a knee-jerk reaction to the ads I have seen on Food Network.
Part of my anger stems from the fact that these commercials have a thick patina of smug all over them. I appreciate the subtle humor of the two women at the kid's party. The snotty white lady tells the black lady that the red drink is something that the white lady would never give her kids. I do like the black lady basically telling the white lady to basically, "jog on". Then I wondered, "How come the black lady is giving her kids red drink? Why isn't the white lady pouring red drink down her children's throats?" But I digress...
The tone of these two commericals also just plain pisses me off. The condescending pro-high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) characters reminds me of a guidance counsellor or bible pusher, "Oh, you poor uninformed soul. You aren't able to make an informed choice in your life. Let's soft talk over your head until you are compliant." And remember kids, "It's fine in moderation." Bunch of dicks.
In one way these fuckers are right. We are uninformed. Most people jump on whatever band wagon that allows them to blame and point fingers at anyone except themselves. It's not the fact you're a shitty parent, it's the video games, and the ipods, and the HFCS.
I'm going to start looking into HFCS a lot more. Personally I believe that eating naturally is the way to go - buy local, grow what you can, cook your own food when you can, be aware of what you put in your mouth and your body. In practice it's a lot more difficult than that but I'm trying.
p.s. I've already written a pretty unhappy email to Food Network about having these commercials on their station. You might want to think about doing that yourself.
Yeah, what you said, pretty much all of it. You're right - we don't research every bit of advice or information we're given. It does us well to be reminded of it from time to time.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not going to be made to feel stupid and uninformed by someone trying to sell me the old "It's Fine in Moderation," a.k.a. "It Kills You, Sure, But Slowly" a.k.a "Bitch You Gonna Die Anyway So Hush Yo Fussin."
Also, whitey is Buffy's Mok'tagar demon roommate from freshman year in college, so she probably -is- pouring red stuff down her children's throats. Big faker.
also she was a hyena in season one.
ReplyDeletewow. this commercials are ridiculous! i try to stay away from HFCS as much as possible. do you know how hard it is to find bread made without it? and even if it's okay in moderation, moderation is hard when it's in just about everything.
ReplyDeletealso, these commercials fail to take into account the fact that corn production is doing really bad things to our environment. it's not just about what you put into your body. it's a lot bigger than that.
also, i really liked this spoof of the commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMo3gOWC8h0&feature=related
thanks for passing this ad along! i might have to blog about it too.