I'm not sure if it's because these commercials have started recently, or because we got rid of DVR and can no longer skip commercials, but I've seen several commercials recently illustrating how high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is no worse for you than any other sweetener. What follows is one of their commercials showing how informed anyone is that thinks that HFCS is any worse than anything else.
I thought it was quite amusing and it felt so much like a political ad that I just had to go to their website to get the "facts". I quite enjoyed the "myths" section where they repeatedly dodge their own questions and insist on pointing out that they're no worse than the other choice. Hmm. The similarities to a politician's campaign grow stronger.
As they lay out their arguments, they're incredibly selective in what they point out. When they ask "questions" the answers are really just the same propaganda spun over and over. It reeks of being made by a political marketing firm between elections.
I will point out that while I have much in the way of second hand reports about HFCS, I have not personally looked at the facts and would be unqualified to give a true opinion about if HFCS is good or not. However, with the way that the corn industry runs their advertising campaign, I have to say that I trust them about as much as I trust politicians. That is, not at all.
5 comments:
But is the non-HFCS camp somehow more trustworthy? Do they only hire the good and honest marketing firms?
I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other about sweeteners of any kind, other than I strongly agree with the statement "sugar tastes good".
That is quite interesting. I must say I am glad to know it's okay that I am giving my kids HFCS :)
Dave just did a rotation with an endocrinologist and she couldn't stress enough how bad HFCS is. Dave would bring snacks for lunch and had stuff like fruit snacks or whatever, and he was afraid to eat them in case she saw, haha, since she always talked about how bad HFCS is.
I have no strong opinion on the taste or health benefits of HFCS (inclination is that fruit is probably better for you than sweeteners but who knows), but I do object to the politics of HFCS. There are two things that cause most sweets in the US to be made with HFCS. One is a tariff on sugar and the other is a subsidy on corn.
My sister watched a documentary, I think it was "King Corn" anyway the film puts forward the idea that the obesity epidemic took off the same time everything started getting made out of corn. All I know is that corn shouldn't be fed to cows because that is how they get so much e coli and it makes their farts worse for the environment.
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