NYC's Bottle-of-Fat Ads as Nauseating as Industry Response

In Trying to Frame Their Arguments in the Long-Fought Obesity Battle, both Parties Made Jackasses of Themselves

Posted by Bob Garfield on 09.07.09

Like many complex public-policy issues for which the financial stakes are high -- think universal health-care coverage and climate change -- the link between soft drinks and obesity has tempted certain interested parties to make jackasses of themselves.

We'll shortly consider one of those parties -- the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene -- and its subway campaign against excessive soft-drink consumption. First, though, we shall heroically attempt to frame the issues:

Client: NYC Dept. of Health Agency: In-house

The message is loud and clear. But it is also literally nauseating.

2. There is an obvious and direct link between empty calories and the obesity epidemic.

3. Excluding the toll it takes on public health in general, obesity affects the individual, not others. Unlike smoking, illegal drugs or excessive alcohol consumption, if AdReview wishes to guzzle six liters of Coke per day, that's our problem alone.

4. Coca-Cola Co., for example, is in the empty-calories business. It isn't obliged to try to stop AdReview from larding ourselves into oblivion. Nor does it face a moral issue. Coke is refreshing and delicious and not in reasonable quantities harmful.

5. There is nonetheless a genuine public-health crisis in the indiscriminate intake of empty calories, particularly by children. It certainly behooves governments to raise awareness of the facts and dangers attendant to soda gluttony.

6. It also behooves parents to restrict their kids' beverage consumption -- in exactly the way they should restrict TV, and TV-commercial, consumption.

7. For similar reasons, any school superintendent who permits soda machines on school property should be summarily fired. (And they ought to revamp their cafeteria menus, too, because they're a national disgrace.)

8. All of the above applies equally to McDonald's and other crap slingers.

So, let's look at what New York City did to fulfill Item No. 5.

The subway posters show someone pouring various sugary beverages into a glass -- only what spills out isn't sweet tea or sports ade or soda pop; it's human fat. The headline says: "Are you pouring on the pounds?" Then, "Don't drink yourself fat." Then, the copy: "Cut back on soda and other sugary beverages. Go with water, seltzer or low-fat milk instead."

Putting aside the careless and amateurish art direction (what's with the highball glass?), the message is loud and clear. But it is also literally nauseating.

AdReview does not believe even the best-intentioned PSA has any right to make the audience physically sick. It's reminiscent of the British anti-dog-litter cinema spot that showed adult people pooping on the sidewalk. It's just too gross to inflict on people. Hence: jackass alert.

But not as jacky as the asses at the American Beverage Association, who decided to take umbrage at being singled out. ABA wants you to know that only 5.5% of America's calories come from soft drinks. "Simply naming one food source as a unique contributor," it asserts, "minimizes a disease as complex as obesity."

No, it doesn't. What "minimizes" understanding is selectively choosing one statistic in order to gloss over a supremely salient fact: that the other 94.5% of caloric intake provides, in varying degrees, what soft drinks never do: nutrition.

Even burgers and french fries, which together account for fewer calories than sugared beverages, offer some nutritional benefit. Pepsi and Snapple offer none.

It's obnoxious for New York City to assault subway riders. For the swill industry to assault the truth is an outrage.

2 Comments

  By JTA123 | San Antonio, TX September 8, 2009 04:22:05 pm:

As a registered dietitian, I wish the solution to obesity was as simple as getting people to give up sugar sweetened drinks. As we all know, it is not.

I work everyday with clients who are attempting to improve their health through making healthier food and beverage choices. After years of experience as a dietitian, I have found that telling people they must eliminate, only serves to make them feel deprived and frustrated. Rather, I take the time to discover the foods my client enjoys eating and from that I build a meal plan for them based on their food preferences. If their diet includes high fat/high calorie foods, I teach them how to choose those less often and to choose fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meat, whole grains and low fat diary more often. This approach combined with adding at least 30 minutes a day of heart pumping activity has proven to be a surefire way to combat obesity.

These new ads may convince some people to give up their favorite sweetened beverages, but that doesn't mean they will make healthier food choices or balance their caloric intake with adequate physical activity. Through my consultancy work with the food and beverage industry, I know that pouring fat in a glass doesn't teach anyone how to eat healthy. What we need are more programs that educate the public that they can enjoy all foods and beverages, in moderation, if they would do that in combination with an active lifestyle. It's not about elimination – it's about moderation.

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  By cj7855 | Rolling Meadows, IL September 11, 2009 07:11:03 pm:

"What we need are more programs that educate the public that they can enjoy all foods and beverages, in moderation, if they would do that in combination with an active lifestyle."

I absolutely agree with this statement. I can hardly imagine, however, there being more information available than there already is. It's EVERYWHERE! Those who don't know, don't care. I have to believe this.

As far as the advertising itself goes - it's a clunker. I suppose it sounded good in a meeting, but somewhere along the line towards production someone should have had the courage to say, "Hey, ya know what? This idea isn't working. What else we got?"

Although, it is better than the typical fat belly shot so often used in newsreel footage!

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