Topic: advertising

New POM Wonderful Ads Spit In The Face Of FTC Ruling…And Consumer Trust

New POM Wonderful Ads Spit In The Face Of FTC Ruling...And Consumer Trust

Earlier this week, a judge ruled that POM Wonderful lied to consumers about the health benefits of their pomegranate juice in response to FTC complaints. The judge’s ruling—which concluded that their advertising was based on sham studies, but that food companies didn’t need to conduct rigorous clinical trials of the sort that drug companies use to approve medical claims—was cause for celebration, according to POM. And it was also used to make yet more deceptive ads, like this one More »

‘Simple’ Junk Food: When 5 Ingredients Or Less Isn’t Good For You

'Simple' Junk Food: When 5 Ingredients Or Less Isn't Good For You

“Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce,” is, according to Michael Pollan‘s Food Rules, a pretty easy way to prevent your diet from going off the rails. And while focusing on simple, high-quality ingredients is definitely a great way to frame a healthy diet, unfortunately it’s also become a genius way to market junk food. Because while Pollan’s common sense advice has become the bible for health-inclined consumers, it’s also become the bible for advertisers and food manufacturers. Which means…even his dummy-proof rules are getting more complicated–including judging a food by its ingredients. More »

H&M Swimwear Ads Piss Off Dermatologists, But Are They Really Increasing Skin Cancer Risk?

H&M Swimwear Ads Piss Off Dermatologists, But Are They Really Increasing Skin Cancer Risk?

Mass clothing retailer H&M is getting slammed for their advertising, but this time it’s not because they’re using fake bodies for models; in fact, their latest swimwear ads feature real-life model Isabeli Fontana, but dermatologists say she looks too tan. Their complaints have mainly to do with the fear of influencing young viewers, who might desire a similar level of tan that, clearly, wouldn’t bode well for their skin cancer risks. Which might be true, but to be honest, I’m not really with the derms on this one. More »

UK Doctors Aren’t Enthused By McDonald’s Sponsorship Of Olympic Games

UK Doctors Aren't Enthused By McDonald's Sponsorship Of Olympic Games

Apparently we aren’t the only ones struck by the irony of McDonald’s massive presence at this year’s Olympics; UK doctors also find serious fault in the fast food chain’s sponsorship of London’s upcoming summer games. Citing their country’s worrisome obesity levels, doctors doubt selling athletics with a side of Big Mac sends the right message; unfortunately, Olympic organizers say carrots and celery just don’t have enough dollars to back the event. More »

Badvertising: Stop Making Me Feel Insecure About My Armpits

Badvertising: Stop Making Me Feel Insecure About My Armpits

I recently saw a blog promoting a product called Dove® Clear Toneâ„¢, which promises to renew and even out the skin under your arms. Unfortunately for Dove and the people trying to promote it, I am a busy, active 20-something with a brain and a life and a job, and thus, I have too much on my plate to feel even the slightest bit insecure about the appearance of my armpits. But companies and advertisers do this all the time–they bank on insecurities about areas of the body that we, as female-identified humans, would otherwise never worry about to sell you stuff you really don’t need. More »

F*** The Diet, Says Du Darfst, German Maker Of Repulsive Diet Foods

F*** The Diet, Says Du Darfst, German Maker Of Repulsive Diet Foods

Dieting! Isn’t it just the worst? So bad that sometimes, you just want to throw your hands in the air and say “f*** this diet, I’m going to eat whatever the hell I please”? Ok, maybe not, because dieting in the traditional sense is stupid and often doesn’t work. But Du Darfst, a German company that makes low-calorie (read: highly-processed) convenience foods, condiments, and prepared salads, is banking on female consumer’s hatred of dieting with their new tagline which is, simply, F*** The Diet. Though, to be honest, I’d rather say “f*** this nasty “diet” food.” More »

Mad Men-Era Food Ads: Eating Like The Drapers Was Just As Confusing As Eating Now

Mad Men-Era Food Ads: Eating Like The Drapers Was Just As Confusing As Eating Now

Mad Men finally coming back to AMC on Sunday, and with it the craze for Mid-Century everything—especially advertising. By now you’ve likely seen galleries of crazy smoking ads, and collections of sexist ads that boggle the mind. But have you checked out the kind of food ads that would have surrounded the Drapers? This was the era when processed food really took off—along with a flurry of confusing nutrition information. More »

7 Worst Body-Negative Food Ads

7 Worst Body-Negative Food Ads

In honor of Eating Disorders Awareness Week, it’s important to look at all messages that girls, boys, teens and adults are getting today about their bodies because we believe that some of these messages–even if they’re well-intended–can trigger negative thoughts about how we look and feel about ourselves. And when we don’t have a healthy body image, it’s hard to have a healthy mindset and healthy behaviors. So, to that point, we did a little research, and compiled the most offensive food ads that are anything but body-positive. Take a look and let us know what other ones you would add to the list. More »

Anti-Childhood Obesity Video Would Like You To Know That You Are Killing Your Kid

Anti-Childhood Obesity Video Would Like You To Know That You Are Killing Your Kid

Remember Strong4Life, the Atlanta-based initiative to end childhood obesity one potentially-fat-shaming-but-also-highly-educational ad at a time? They’re back with a new ad that equates weight problems and heart disease in adulthood with unhealthy habits developed as a child, asserting that parents who feed their kids fast food and let them lead sedentary lives are basically killing them. Do you find it educational, or is it just portraying obese people as gluttonous dummies who don’t notice their own health problems, and parents as hapless enablers? More »

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