High Fructose Corn Syrup commercials

[Faliciagayle]

Have you seen these?

Someone serves some kind of processed, artificially colored/flavored product and the person being served says "Oh, I can't eat that. Its got HFCS"
"So?"
"So you know what they say..."
"What? That it's natural, made from corn, and contains no artificial ingredients and it's fine in moderation"

Dude.

Seriously?

my first thought is, yay, enough people are moving away from processed food for the corn industry to feel the need for this kind of advert; but mostly, I just feel sick.

What about the fact that it IS unnatural, and it IS an artificial ingredient, and the standard American diet includes HFCS in gluttonous amounts?

:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang

[LadyAlathia]

I remember hearing somewhere that the average American consumes 36 POUNDS of hfcs A YEAR!!

Srsly, is that "moderation"?

[cherimoya]

just watched the add and I was so shocked I laughed....seriously it was a RED drink, so unless it was raspberry juice...gross! Like we don't have enough sugary crap!!

[cherimoya]

too funny! Just watched another HFCS add with, of all things, a corn dog! What exactly are they trying to prove by these ads, 'cause corn dogs aren't healthy anyway.....I wonder who came up with these ads!!

[erikaa]

I thought the same exact thing!! come on! are you kidding me? a commercial to encourage parents to use HFCS? this is nuts! :eyesroll

[dubfam]

That is awful.

It reminds me of the commercials for sugar that I started seeing about a year ago. There is a guy in the produce section of the grocery store talking about how white granulated sugar is natural and just like the sugar found in fruit :rolleyes


.

[VikingKvinna]

That makes my blood boil. Just what we need -- reassurance that the crap so many of us already eat in stunningly unhealthy amounts is actually "natural" and "good for us."

[BekahJ]

As if people aren't confused enough yeah sugar is natural too but after all the processing it goes through it sure isn't good for you either. Give me a break I just want to slap those people who came up with this. Another government scam to keep us eating that junk.

[plantmama]

That's hilarious and really messed up at the same time!
I guess it is a sign that we are becoming a more informed society about healthy foods even if some people will be reassured by these ads.

[Mama~Love]

I guess "they" don't want people to read the labels anymore, or question what's in it!!

[Panserbjørne]

the best part is at the bottom where it says something to the effect of: "sponsored by the corn refinery industry." :lol:rotflmao:laugh::happyt:

Seriously, it's disgusting and hilarious at the same time. Like, what ELSE would the corn refinery industry say????

[Pumpkin_Pie]

OMG, I just saw a magazine ad about HFCS a few days ago! I couldn't believe my eyes when I read it! I seriously thought it was a spoof at first. It was all green with a little logo at the bottom with a stylized corn plant on it to make it look all very natural and healthy. I was shocked and disgusted.

[JamesMama]

Oh for the love of...

Seriously?

My first thought also was "Huh, the health nuts must be making an impact if King Corn has to put out a smear campaign to make health concious people look stupid"

[motheringforme]

Don't our bodies process it differently than sucrose (table sugar)? I thought that had something to do with why it's worse for your health than sugar.

[Blooming]

DH caught this ad and he still can't beleive it.

[MamaEli]

Yup, saw them. Red drink, red popsicle, corndog.
If they say it on TV, it must be true, right?
Blech. They kind of remind me of the KFC ads saying the fried chicken was healthy, or the 7up ad saying it was all natural. I wonder if these will be pulled too?

[phathui5]

I saw the magazine ad too. This one read something like "Some people say sugar is better for you than high fructose corn syrup, but they're the same thing."

[DahliaRW]

They are put out by the corn refiners association, not your least biased sponosor!

[Cekimon]

i've noticed products in costco that say "no HFCS... hydrogenated oils" on the front label... which thrilled me. but apparently this does not thrill the corn industry. HFCS is in everything!!! (okay not everything but it's in a lot of stuff!!)

[PaytonPlace]

I saw a full page ad in Family Circle magazine. I had to go grab it so I can type it out. I had to read this about 5 times over to realize Holy Cow, there is an ad promoting HFCS?!?!?!? What is this country coming to??

There are 2 women having a conversation. Lady A says "My hairdresser says that sugar is healthier than high fructose corn syrup." Lady B replies "Wow! You get your hair done by a doctor?"
Then the bottom states "There's a lot of misinformation out there about sugars made from corn. Truth is, high fructose corn syrup is nutritionally the same as table sugar and honey. The same number of calories, too. As registered dietitians recommend, keep enjoying the foods you love, just do it in moderation. We welcome a healthy discussion. Get the facts. You're in for a sweet suprise." www.sweetsurpise.com Sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association.


:eyesroll

Sickening.

[abi&ben'smom]

They remind me of those spoof commercials that Saturday Night Live does. They make me laugh every time because I can't believe that they think we are so stupid that seeing these commercials will change our views on HCFS.

[GamineNoir]

I guess "they" don't want people to read the labels anymore, or question what's in it!!

No kidding. Dh and I were floored when we saw two of these ads in a row last night. :dizzy:

[Ruthla]

I have to wonder if these ads will really change anybody's minds about HFCS.

I mean, if you're swayed by this ad campaign, then you must not be particularly knowledgable about food ingredients to begin with! And if you ARE informed about the dangers of HFCS, how will an ad like this convince you otherwise?

It's not like they're actually listing the accusations and refuting them; they're simply making it sound like there ARE no legitimate complaints about HFCS, and then throwing in some facts out of context. Yes, honey, sugar, and HFCS all have the same number of calories per gram of carb (with honey being a bit lower per teaspoon due to the water content.) But that doesn't mean our bodies process them the same way! HFCS HAS been shown to cause more obesity than a similar number of sugars in the diet from sucrose (table sugar.) The research isnt' clear about WHY this happens (though theories abound) but the research is clear that this does happen.

I also wonder if these ads will inspire people to research HFCS. I bet there are plenty of people who never even heard of HFCS who now know what it is, and do their own research and decide not to use it!

[mntnmom]

IN THEORY a little corn syrup in things should be fine. It is made from corn, better than aspartame. But HFCS, is different. I don't understand the details, but the process is a little like hydogenating perfectly good vegetable oil. It then affects the body differently.

The big problem is that it's in EVERYTHING. The best way to spot an over-processed, high calorie, low nutrition food is to look for HFCS, with regular corn syrup a close second.

Remember the "mercury in fish won't hurt you unless you're a whale who eats tons a day. Go ahead and eat tuna" ads that came out right after the USDA changed its recommendations?

Same deal. Telling people what they REALLY want to hear. "No need to worry or change your habits folks! It's FINE!"

[Livi's Mama]

DH & I have started joking with each other, "no, go ahead & order soda, the ad said it's fine, remember?" I know too many people that are so marginally informed that the above scenario will actually take place, and they will sleep soundly at night. At least the commercials may provide an opportunity for discussion of the truth.

[amandaleigh37]

Oh good God.

Glad I don't have a TV.

[junipermuse]

I saw these ads for the first time a couple weeks ago and I was horrified. I also wanted to come here and post it because I was hoping someone might have some factual info to arm myself with in regards to the unhealthy nature of high-fructose corn syrup. I know that some people in my family will try to tell us its okay to feed the baby junk and use this ad as proof.

I also find it ridiculous that they say its okay in moderation, but the mom in the ad is giving her kids red punch. To me even one serving of that exceeds the " in moderation" limit. Not to mention that it is in everything like crackers, ketchup, fruit snacks, bbq sauce. so people are getting a moderate amount just from eating a typical amount of standard american processed foods they don't need to add sodas and "fruit drink" to that. My policy is avoid it when at all possible, but I realize that I'll probably end up eating some when I eat at friends or families houses because most people don't read labels all that carefully




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[toastqueen]

I'm late in the game here, but, I've seen the print ad, and it makes me so mad!
I uploaded it here so I can rant about it on my blog:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c382/toastqueen/livejournal/HFCS-lie.gif

[christinar]

I saw a full page ad in Family Circle magazine. I had to go grab it so I can type it out. I had to read this about 5 times over to realize Holy Cow, there is an ad promoting HFCS?!?!?!? What is this country coming to??

There are 2 women having a conversation. Lady A says "My hairdresser says that sugar is healthier than high fructose corn syrup." Lady B replies "Wow! You get your hair done by a doctor?"
Then the bottom states "There's a lot of misinformation out there about sugars made from corn. Truth is, high fructose corn syrup is nutritionally the same as table sugar and honey. The same number of calories, too. As registered dietitians recommend, keep enjoying the foods you love, just do it in moderation. We welcome a healthy discussion. Get the facts. You're in for a sweet suprise." www.sweetsurpise.com Sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association.

You know what makes me particularly mad about this print ad is the assumption that the hairdresser (regular woman, in other words) can't have good information :angry - because, you know, ONLY DOCTORS can have opinions that count. It just feeds into so many stereotypes and the whole "doctor as god" mentality; us regular people certainly can't evaluate information for ourselves and share what we learn, because, you know... We're not doctors. (Not that there's anything wrong with doctors.)

[Ruthla]

You know what makes me particularly mad about this print ad is the assumption that the hairdresser (regular woman, in other words) can't have good information :angry - because, you know, ONLY DOCTORS can have opinions that count. It just feeds into so many stereotypes and the whole "doctor as god" mentality; us regular people certainly can't evaluate information for ourselves and share what we learn, because, you know... We're not doctors. (Not that there's anything wrong with doctors.)
More annoying is the assumption that doctors know anything about nutrition in the first place! Doctors are not nutritionists!

[**Cat**]

I thought the commercials were a joke at first.

[toastqueen]

You know what makes me particularly mad about this print ad is the assumption that the hairdresser (regular woman, in other words) can't have good information :angry - because, you know, ONLY DOCTORS can have opinions that count. It just feeds into so many stereotypes and the whole "doctor as god" mentality; us regular people certainly can't evaluate information for ourselves and share what we learn, because, you know... We're not doctors. (Not that there's anything wrong with doctors.)

Yup, I agree. I like my doctor, but I know she doesn't know everything! Honestly, I think information from my hairdresser would be less biased than many doctors!