Saturday Stories: Self-Obituary, Running and GMOs

Canadian journalist/publisher icon Peter Worthington's self-penned obituary. Quite the life lived.

The story of Bret - he's a runner.

Nature covers genetically modified crops along with some scary truths and some myths.

Is This the Future of "Child Size" Drinks at McDonald's?

I do loves me Parks and Recreation.

I had tried to put this clip up before but it was an unofficial version and NBC yanked it down....but now they've put it up themselves. So sit back and enjoy the future of child-sized in today's Funny Friday feature.

Have a great weekend!

(Email subscribers, head to the blog to watch)

Coca-Cola Never Ever Markets to Kids and Is Part of Obesity Solution iPhone Edition

So yesterday I downloaded Santa's Helper - an iPhone game produced by Coca-Cola.

Apple's app folks determined it was for users aged 4+ (see that little symbol I circled in the top right corner)

And you should know too that Apple also has a 12+ designation which according to their guidance system means,

"Applications in this category may also contain infrequent mild language, frequent or intense cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence, and mild or infrequent mature or suggestive themes, and simulated gambling which may not be suitable for children under the age of 12."

And while I realize there's no violence in the game, the age of 12 is where Coca-Cola claims to draw the line at advertising,

"We have historically not placed – and continue the practice today of not placing – advertising for any of our beverages on any media that is primarily directed to, and has an audience of 50% or more, children under the age of 12."

So who is this game for, this game where the goal is to help a Coca-Cola drinking Santa drop presents down chimneys while little Coca-Cola trucks pass by on the streetscape below?

Aside from Apple's suggestion it's for children above the age of 4, it doesn't explicitly say, but after spending a few minutes with it I can tell you this - the gameplay's dead simple.

So simple in fact that even a young child could play it.

So simple in fact that only a young child would want to.

But don't you fret. Coca-Cola's part of the solution, not part of the problem.

State of Ohio Partners up with McDonald's and Coca-Cola to Promote Tourism.

Thanks to fellow physician Dr. Tony Almazan from Dayton, Ohio for letting me know about how Tourism Ohio has partnered up with McDonald's and Coca-Cola to help promote visiting one of America's heaviest States.

And what a partnership it is! Not only does the partnership steer people to visit McDonald's, but it also steers them explicitly to a large beverage from Coca-Cola whereby consumers who buy a large Coke (not small or medium Cokes) at McDonald's can trade the cup it came in for discounts at various Ohio tourist destinations.

Brilliant!

And clearly a salient example of just how important obesity is to the Coca-Cola corporation who now promote themselves as being partners in trying to create a healthier America. Maybe they'll also give them all soccer balls?

[For those who like numbers, a large Coca-Cola from McDonalds? At 30oz it's just 1/4 of a cup shy of a litre and it packs 280 calories coming from its 19 teaspoons (76g) of sugar.]

Coca-Cola's Newest Anti-Obesity Contributions Include Soccer Balls and Permission Marketing

The inspired altruistic work of the Coca-Cola company continues! In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, I'm talking about a beverage company that is pretending to care about fitness to be part of the "solution" to obesity and they've just announced their latest round of "help".

What sort of help?

• Distributing thousands of "Coca-Cola soccer balls" at major sporting events.
• Encouraging people to sign up for myCokeRewards to get a chance at winning a pedometer....and enjoy an immersive Coca-Cola centric marketing experience on their website and give Coca-Cola permission to market to them directly.
• A new campaign calling on Americans to vote for their favourite parks so Coca-Cola can give them a grant to build something.
• Coca-Cola "Happiness" trucks to roll through more neighbourhoods and towns to inspire people to "move to the beat"....and drink a Coca-Cola bottled beverage.

Hurrah?

Sigh.

Just a few quick quotes to keep in mind as to what's in it for Coca-Cola when considering these interventions. Here's Coca-Cola's marketing chief Joe Tripodi chatting about the value of getting people voting and involved with "charitable" programs like myCokeRewards from last year's Wall Street Journal

"If we can get 40 million-plus fans, or even some subset of them talking positively about the things we’re doing, ultimately that’s a good thing for us”

And by "good thing" Mr. Tripodi means sales,

"I think it’s probably a leading indicator of potential sales."

And what kind of sales does Mr. Tripodi hope for? He told CNBC in 2011,

"We want to double our business in basically a decade."

Somehow I don't think a doubling of Coca-Cola's business is going to help obesity much, do you?

Probably not soccer balls or permission marketing either.

Guest Post: 9 Year Old Boycotts Coca-Cola Sponsored School Dance

A little while back I received an email from a blog reading grandparent. He wanted to let me know about his 9 year old granddaughter's response to learning that her school dance was to be funded by Coca-Cola,

"Dear Dr Freedhoff,

Thought you would like to know that my granddaughter Frances (9) has refused to participate in a Cola-Cola dance which her school has arranged as part of some sports sponsorship thing, this without any prompting from me. She must have been reading your blog. She wants to wear a t shirt with "water " written on it."

I reached out to him and asked if his granddaughter might want to write a short comment regarding her decision as well as send along a photo of her protest shirt.

She obliged!

"I did not want to be in the coca cola dance, because little children shouldn't be dancing in the favor of a soda company. Also my sports teacher shouldn't be encouraging small children to drink it. You need to stick to healthy foods like fruit,vegetables,meat,and occasionally oils and sweets.

-Frances-"

And for those public health folks who think partnerships of their organizations with the food industry are a-ok now you know that even some 9 year old kids perceive them as problematic conflicts on interest.

Granddad - I imagine you're darn proud of your granddaughter. Good on her!

Saturday Stories: Parental "No" Insufficiency, School Lunches, and Depression

Fantastic piece from Anna Lappe in Civil Eats on why the argument that parents can simply educate and say "no" to combat predatory food industry kid targeted marketing is nonsense.

Why the New York Times dubbed Grade 4 student the Michael Moore of the Grade School Lunchroom.

Hyperbole and a Half's Allie with an incredibly personal, insightful, artistic, and cuss word filled look at the current state of her depression.

[And if you don't follow me on Twitter or Facebook, this week's US News and World Report piece is on how desk jobs probably aren't responsible for societal weight gain, and here's an interview I did with Global when I was in Halifax on the issue of parental "No"s and healthful eating.]

The Best Kiss Cam Video Ever?

Today's Funny Friday video's lesson is simple - don't ignore a kiss-cam.

Have a great weekend!

(email subscribers head to the blog to watch)

Parental "No" Files: Why Does My Kid Recognize McDonald's If They've Never Been There?

Sent to me by blog reader Tara Newman following its display in her child's preschool.

McDonald's fry containers to help teach reading.

And people wonder why their child who has "never been to McDonald's" recognizes those iconic arches by name.

It's not just the food industry who markets junk food, the food industry has many willing marketers including folks whose jobs it is to nurture our children.

And no doubt the teacher who put the display together wasn't going out of his or her way to market McDonald's, they likely didn't give it a second thought, instead they played upon the normalized ubiquity and allure of junk food to try to engage young minds and in so doing, further normalize it into everyday life.

It's not McDonald's that's the problem, it's its normalization.

[Tara also mentioned that her daughter's preschool teacher is buying her daughter's class a McDonald's lunch as an end of year celebration. Sure Tara could say "No", but is it really that easy?]

Not That I've Ever Shopped At Abercrombie & Fitch Before But Certainly Never Will Now

Because I won't support weight bias.

Thanks to Eating Rules' Andrew Wilder for forwarding this my way but it would seem that Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries doesn't want women with overweight or obesity to even shop in his store (the largest pant size Abercrombie & Fitch make for women is size 10).

And you know what, my 3 girls, I'm pretty sure they'll be just fine with our family's boycott of Abercrombie & Fitch as perhaps unlike Mr. Jeffries, who in the past has been quoted as being very supportive of his store's exclusionary practices, my girls are decent human beings.

(though I suppose I probably already ought to have had Abercrombie & Fitch on my boycott list for making thongs for little girls)