Losing Faith: One Mom’s Frustration With Cause Marketing

by Bruce Bradley on February 14, 2013

Gotcha.001

What do you get when you mix big food and beverage companies with non-profit organizations that are desperate for cash? Yes, cause marketing (sigh!). If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ve probably already heard me express concerns. And while the dastardly practice of linking health-related causes to unhealthy products is still quite active as this National Heart Month can attest, I’m optimistic that change is in the air.

“Why,” you may ask? More and more people are starting to speak up. In fact, when I researched my post about Pinkwashing last fall, I learned there are entire efforts like Think Before You Pink that are fighting to protect their cause from loosing relevancy at the hands of frivolous, misleading promotions. And when a mom recently wrote me about her family’s experience with food, health, and cause marketing, I couldn’t resist asking her to share her story.

Kelly and Family

Meet Kelly. She lives outside of Minneapolis, MN in a town called Chaska. She and her husband have 3 children. Kelly is a former kindergarten teacher and full-time stay at home mom. 

Q: When did cause marketing first start to concern for you?

A: In 2010 our daughter, who was born with a severe heart defect, was diagnosed with ADHD. After prescription drugs failed us, an internet search led us to the Feingold Diet—a diet that eliminates food dyes, preservatives and other food chemicals. So we started eating mostly organic whole foods. We soon discovered that her ADHD was primarily the result of eating chemically processed foods.

As we began to see her health restored, the grocery store became a whole new place. Reading labels and sticking to the outside of the grocery store became our new normal. Many of the processed foods claiming “health benefits” or touting some “cause” turned out to be the products that triggered severe behavioral reactions in my daughter. All of a sudden I started to look at cause marketing differently because I noticed a dramatic improvement in my daughter’s health and behavior when we avoided all these highly processed foods. It’s then that I also began to question what other effects these foods could be having on our health.

Q: In the past, how did you react to cause marketing efforts? Did you ever a support some special causes by buying certain products? And, do you feel any differently now?

A: Yes, in the past I supported these causes. I thought, why not?! If I can eat yogurt and help support breast cancer research, that’s a win-win. And with my daughter’s heart defect, we especially tried to raise money for the AHA.

Now, I’m not so sure anymore. People can be easily deceived into purchasing of a product because it makes them feel philanthropic. That product may or may not be a healthy choice, and if you don’t read the fine print you have no idea what percentage of the purchase actually goes to the cause.

Also with some of these huge causes it’s hard to see where your dollars are really going. For example, we raised over $5,000 for the AHA but haven’t really seen any fruits of our labor. The facts about congenital heart defects are staggering. Not only are they the #1 birth defect, but they are also the leading cause of all infant deaths. Yet when I look on AHA’s website, I could only find one study in 2012 that even involved kids.

So nowadays we donate to a local heart kid camp that our daughter attends. Although I’m sure the AHA does some good work, at least now we can see exactly where our money is going and what it supports.

Q: The potentially deceptive nature of cause marketing is really important to you. Tell me a little about your story and why you want to speak up.

A: Our 7-year-old daughter has endured 4 open heart surgeries, 10 cardiac catheterization, and countless days of hospitalization. She’s had many close calls, and it’s a miracle that she is with us today. This makes you realize health is really important. We need to protect it—not wait for it to fail.

The experience with my daughter has pushed me to look at my own health and what I can do to prevent future disease. I know that I don’t want to spend one more minute in a hospital. I also have this same wish for others, and I believe it starts with proper nutrition. While cause marketing of processed products may bring revenue to a cause, it’s also perpetuating and creating more disease if the products contain controversial ingredients and GMOs.

Q: This summer Subway received the American Heart Association’s endorsement with their heart check. This month Diet Coke is partnering with The Heart Truth, a program of the National Institutes of Health focused on raising awareness of women’s heart health issues. Campbell’s is also partnering with the American Heart Association and Go Red for women with its “Address Your Heart” campaign. What upsets you about these sponsorships?

A: I know from my own research that many of the products that have associated themselves with heart health, actually have controversial ingredients and GMOs. There is little research on what causes heart defects, and according to the CDC heart defects are on the rise. Who’s to say that the processed food I was consuming prior to getting pregnant with my daughter didn’t cause this? We will never know.

Also, people are so impressionable, and they look to the AHA for guidance. This concerns me greatly. Yes, Subway may be a healthier option than fast food, but with close to 50 ingredients in their bread alone, I’m not convinced it’s a healthy choice. I would love to see Subway offer organic vegetables, less processed meats, and bread that is truly made fresh not loaded with chemicals. And seeing Diet Coke cans with hearts on them is very upsetting because I don’t believe it’s good for you, and I don’t want my young daughter to be misled. I’d also hate for someone to buy an unhealthy product in honor of my daughter.

Q: What do you want people to know about raising money for causes?

A: Do your homework before you donate to any charity. If you do decide to buy a product associated with a cause, make sure you know what percentage of your purchase will actually go to the cause. For your own future health, make sure that product is a healthy choice! And if you can’t find a national charity that suits you, search for a local one. Seeing exactly where your money goes is so rewarding!

 

Please join me in thanking Kelly for taking the time to share her family’s personal food and cause marketing journey with us!

So how do you feel about charities partnering with unhealthy food and beverages? Let us know by commenting below or maybe even sharing your own story! If we can get some great comments, I’ll be sending them directly to the American Heart Association, Go Red for Women, and The Heart Truth so they will know just how passionately folks feel about using cause marketing to sell highly processed products.

As always, if you’ve enjoyed this post, please share it by pasting a link on your Facebook wall, liking it, or emailing it to a friend. And for more inside scoop on the world of food, please subscribe to my blog.

P.S. There are still a couple of days left for you to enter a giveaway for a signed copy of my novel, FAT PROFITS.  You can either enter the giveaway below or on the FAT PROFITS giveaway page. Thanks!

[Subscribers who receive this post via email or RSS will need to visit the giveaway page in order to participate.]


4 comments

Super Bowl Ad Brawl: There’s a Much Bigger Issue

by Bruce Bradley on February 7, 2013

superbowladbrawlOver a quarter of a billion dollars was spent Sunday night on Super Bowl XLVII advertising. With the big game day ranking as the second-largest annual food celebration behind Thanksgiving, it’s no surprise that over 40% of the ads were for food or beverages. And another shocker? Almost all of these ads peddle highly processed, unhealthy products that make our already bulging waistlines even bigger.

There’s no doubt that corporate giants dominate TV’s food advertising. But one of the more subtle yet influential ways these companies manipulate our conversations about food is found hidden in the drama over an ad that didn’t air during the Super Bowl.

In the big beverage showdown between Coke and Pepsi, a relatively new upstart got caught in the crossfire. SodaStream, a company that sells a home soda maker, had its Super Bowl ad rejected by CBS. Marketing its appliance as an eco-friendly alternative to all the waste generated by big manufacturers, SodaStream was forced to replace its original ad that showcased Pepsi and Coke deliverymen unloading stacks of plastic bottles at a supermarket. Here’s the original ad:

[If the video isn't appearing above you can view the ad here.]

Now while the rejection of this ad is an interesting piece of news that has the Internet buzzing, there’s an even bigger story that’s been ignored. You see the same influence that forced SodaStream’s to change its ad also impacts the television programming we watch every single day.

Think about it—big food and beverage companies spend billions of dollars on advertising every year. Not only do they have enormous clout, but they’re not afraid to use it by pulling spending from any shows that are overly critical or trash their line-up of highly processed products.

So how does this affect the general public’s opinions about food?

  • First, most television programming implicitly advocates processed foods and sugary drinks. Boxes, bags, and bottles fill sitcom pantries and adorn their kitchen tables.
  • Second, rarely do these shows bring to life the serious health consequences of eating empty calories. While over a third of the U.S. population is obese, how often do you see overweight characters on TV? And excluding the occasional medical drama, when’s the last time you saw someone suffering from diabetes?
  • Finally, if a character on a sitcom or drama happens to be concerned about what they eat or—perish the thought—is a vegetarian, they’re often marginalized or branded as some kind of hippie.

Combined these subtle forms of influence have an impact on how we think and feel about food. And if the real food movement hopes to grow, here’s yet another roadblock we must overcome.

So help me chip away at Big Food’s power by sharing my blog with your friends and family. Helping people learn more about what’s in their food is my passion. It’s why I write this blog.

This week I’m also running a giveaway for signed copies of my novel, Fat Profits. If you enjoy thrillers and your concerned about the food you eat, you should definitely enter the giveaway and check out the FREE first chapter. Although Fat Profits is complete fiction, it brings to life the greed and corruption that is far too common in the world of Big Food. I’m hopeful that it can be a powerful tool in getting more people asking the question, “Is the food I eat safe?”

As always, thanks for reading my blog. If you’re new to my site and you’d like to learn more inside scoop on the world of food, please subscribe here.

[Subscribers who receive this post via email or RSS will need to visit my blog to participate in the giveaway.]


5 comments

Weight Loss Carpetbaggers

by Bruce Bradley on January 29, 2013

Weight Loss Can Be Challenging

Well they’re doing it again. When the New Year rolls around, Big Food companies start peddling their insane weight loss programs filled with leanwashed, ”healthy” food options. It’s pretty ironic if you think about it—the very same processed food companies that mislead us into eating more and more empty calories then turn around and sell us even more processed foods that pretend to help us lose weight. Much like the carpetbaggers who went South for political and financial gain after the Civil War, these weight loss carpetbaggers don’t really solve any problems. They just profit from them.

Special Karpetbagger

One of the most insidious of these carpetbaggers is Kellogg’s and its Special K brand. After spending millions of dollars researching women’s attitudes about diets and body image, Kellogg’s has learned how to talk about weight loss. Leveraging these insights, Kellogg’s Special K has created advertising that connects with women by recognizing happiness is more than a number on a scale:

Special K — Is a Number Inspiring?
Special K — Is a Number Inspiring?

In their “What Will You Gain When You Lose” ad campaign for Special K, Kellogg’s brings to life the consumer insight that feeling good about oneself is not about just a number (your weight) … it’s about feeling good about yourself.

Play Video
Click To Play
OverlaysShareTweet

 

But like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, after connecting with women emotionally, Kellogg’s sells them out. Rather than deliver healthy, real food options for women wanting to lose weight, Kellogg’s twists its knowledge and sells an über processed, highly profitable Special K line-up:

 

On its website Kellogg’s describes its Special K items as “goodness you can taste” and then goes on to say:

Look forward to every meal with a delicious and nutritious variety of Special K foods. We’re proud to include nutrients your body needs with the tastes you crave. From wholesome breakfast foods and savory snacks to shakes, sweet treats and so much more, all of our products were created to delight your taste buds.

But do these products deliver? Can you taste the goodness that Kellogg’s promises? And is Special K truly wholesome and nutritious? To answer these questions let’s take a closer look at several Special K items to see how they stack up:

[Click here for complete ingredient and nutrition info for these products.]

Unfortunately the Special K lineup follows a disappointing, faux food theme that concerns me for many reasons:

  • Servings that will leave you hungry:  In order to hit low calorie counts, Special K uses exceptionally small servings and/or foods that are literally filled with puffed air. While real food like vegetables or a piece of fruit make you feel full, it’s doubtful if Special K’s lineup will do much to satisfy your appetite.
  • Lots of sugar:  To make their bars, pastries, and drinks sweet, Special K pours on the sugar. In the items I reviewed, total sugars ranged from 6g-18g per serving and drove 25%-40% of the calorie count.
  • Loads of sodium: If you’re watching your sodium intake, watch out since most of Special K’s items have 125-250mg of sodium per tiny serving.
  • Many “fake” ingredients: From GMOs to artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners there’s not much about these products that is real.
  • Preservatives and controversial/potentially carcinogenic ingredients: BHT, trans fats, caramel color, TBHQ, and carrageenan are just some of the worrisome ingredients frequently found in the Special K family.

So does Kellogg’s provide a responsible action plan for weight-loss? No. Rather than advocate eating more real foods, Kellogg’s has merely taken out their processed food toolbox to profit off the global obesity epidemic they helped to create.

Awakening people to Big Food’s deceptive tactics and changing how they think about food and weight loss products is no easy task. Processed food companies have a lot vested in maintaining the status quo. And with their big research and advertising budgets they’ve successfully dominated and controlled the conversation about food. However, step by step real food believers like you and I are fighting back and spreading the word.

So do you want to help me change the conversation about food? Then share my blog with your friends and family. And if you haven’t checked out my novel, Fat Profits, please do. It’s an entertaining thriller about a corrupt food company launching a revolutionary, new weight loss product (sound familiar?). While it’s complete fiction, I’ve leveraged my 15+ years of Big Food marketing experience to create a suspenseful read that brings to life the corporate greed and corruption that’s endemic in the world of food. So seriously, if you love a good thriller, read a FREE copy of the first chapter today, and I’m sure you’ll be hooked.

As always, thanks for reading my blog. If you’re new to my site and you’d like to learn more inside scoop on the world of food, please subscribe here.

5 comments

Another Big Food Head Fake

by Bruce Bradley on December 7, 2012

Food marketers like to portray their products as pure and simple when they really aren't

Last month Californians lost their fight to label GMOs with the defeat of Prop. 37. Thanks in large part to Big Food and Ag companies spending over $46 million on misleading and blatantly false advertising, consumers will remain in the dark about what’s really in their food.

But false and misleading advertising is nothing new to the food biz. As consumers have become more and more interested in simple, real foods, Big Food companies have become even more aggressive in refashioning their highly processed (hush, GMO-ridden) products into pure and pristine gems picked straight from nature’s fields. Nowhere is this advertising trend more evident than in the $10 billion U.S. cereal category where leaders Kellogg’s and General Mills are going head to head to claim the new high ground in food, simplicity. Let’s take a look at both of their advertisements:

Featuring beautiful images of corn fields and happy, healthy friends and family, Kellogg’s goes on to say:

Those who look to fuel body and mind with the simplest of grains, they’re not hard to find.

Just four ingredients, it all starts here, just as it was back 100 years.

From the seed to the spoon. Simple things go into every flake, every bite.

Genuine. True.

The simple grain cereals from Kellogg’s.

Start simple. Start right.

In comparison, General Mills’ take on simplicity is über simple with the majority of its commercial featuring no words at all—just a morning sunrise shimmering over a field of oats. The ad then ends with Cheerios’ iconic tagline “The one and only Cheerios” and a visual of “Simple.”

Now while Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Cheerios are relatively simple compared to the rest of the cereal category, both of these cereal manufacturers are forgetting something very important—most parents don’t consider products containing GMOs simple. And that reality came crashing down on Cheerios last week when its Facebook app was hijacked and turned against the venerable brand.

Cheerios PR Disaster

Hmmm … looks like hell hath no fury like parents scorned. [To learn more about this PR nightmare read PR Fail: Cheerios GMO Backlash Goes Social and the Wall Street Journal's Marketplace piece, GMO Inside Campaign: Cheerios Facebook Page Flooded By Anti-GMO Comments] And herein lies the problem for Big Food and Ag companies. The genie is out of the bottle. The real food movement is growing and with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, Big Food doesn’t control the conversation anymore. Undoubtedly these corporations still have enormous power. Prop. 37′s defeat proved that. But consumers refuse to be ignored and have new ways of speaking out.

Given my experience as a former marketing leader on Cheerios’ sibling, Honey Nut Cheerios, many people have asked, “Will Big Food ever change?” Unfortunately, I don’t think it will happen any time soon. Relentless profit pressure from Wall Street drives quarter to quarter thinking that results in the entire industry being woefully short-term oriented and risk adverse. Although we may see occasional brands, like Cheerios, make quiet changes and remove GMOs, widespread change is further off since most of Big Food’s CEOs are relics of a different era—a time when corporations controlled consumers and media like puppet masters. Until the tides of that era fully recede, we will watch “trusted” brands run aground as real consumers demand full transparency and accountability from corporate America.

To make true, enduring change happen we must continue to challenge old thinking and demand more from Big Food. So if you’re committed to taking a stand for GMO labeling, here are some actions you can take to make a difference:

What do you think about Big Food’s actions regarding GMOs? Do companies like Kellogg’s and General Mills’ understand how we feel? And what are you personally doing to advocate for the changes you believe in? Please share your comments below.

As always, thanks for visiting my blog. If you haven’t had a chance to check out my book, Fat Profits, you can learn more about it here. Great reviews for Fat Profits keep rolling in, so there’s no better time than now to download your FREE chapter or to buy a copy to share as a special holiday gift! And if you’re new to my blog and you’d like to learn more about the tricks, traps, and tools Big Food uses to get people eating more processed food, please subscribe for the latest updates.

5 comments

Confessions of a Former Coke “Addict”

by Bruce Bradley on November 30, 2012

Beverages like Coca-Cola can feel like their addictive

This post was originally published on November 30, 2011.

Yes, I’ve battled a Coke “addiction” a couple times. Just when I think I have it beat, a couple years later it worms its way back into my life. No, this Coke isn’t that white, powdery stuff. This Coke comes in a can, and my particular “drug” of choice is Cherry Coke Zero.

Do you ever wonder why soft drinks and processed foods have such power over us? Are we just weak? Or are our bodies simply outmaneuvered by slick Big Food companies? An interesting 60 Minutes episode entitled “The Flavorists: Tweaking Tastes and Creating Cravings” sheds some light on the subject. If you haven’t seen it, you should definitely check it out here:

It’s no surprise that processed foods and beverages are designed and engineered to taste good. But as you listen to Morley Safer interview several employees of Givaudan, the world’s largest flavoring and fragrance manufacturer, you quickly realize that’s delicious is not the only goal of Big Food companies.  Here’s a brief part of their conversation as they talk about the creation of fruit flavorings:

Givaudan [Dawn Streich]: In our fruit flavors we’re talking about, we want a burst in the beginning. And maybe a finish that doesn’t linger too much so that you want more of it.

Givaudan [Hassel]: And you don’t want a long linger, because you’re not going to eat more of it if it lingers.

60 Minutes [Morley Safer]: Aha. So I see, it’s going to be a quick fix. And then–

Givaudan [Hassel]: Have more.

60 Minutes [Morley Safer]: And then have more. But that suggests something else?

Givaudan [Hassel]: Exactly.

60 Minutes [Morley Safer]: Which is called addiction?

Givaudan [Hassel]: Exactly.

60 Minutes [Morley Safer]: You’re tryin’ to create an addictive taste?

Givaudan [Hassel]: That’s a good word.

Givaudan [Streich]: Or something that they want to go back for again and again.

Pretty scary conversation if you ask me. Do the flavorings that Givaudan concoct make our food addictive? I don’t know. But I am confidant that whether it’s artificial or natural flavors they’re creating, companies like Givaudan are contributing to the obesity epidemic by helping Big Food companies manufacture processed food and beverages that we crave and “go back for again and again.”

Beyond the consequences of eating food you just can’t resist, what’s so bad about processed food? Well, as I explained in my blog post “All Food is NOT Created Equal”, flavorings are just one of the ingredients in the processed food pantry. Fats, salt, and sugars are all layered on top of cheap, nutrition-poor ingredients to give the appearance and taste of real food. Over time our bodies eat more and get less nutrition, creating a downward health spiral that can be disastrous.

So what’s the solution? You guessed it … eat less processed food and beverages. By making simple changes to your diet and replacing the boxes, cans, and bottles of pre-made food and drinks with real food and water, you can make noticeable improvements to your health.

And what about my addiction? Well, over Thanksgiving I decided to go “cold turkey”—no more Coke Zero. Thanks to plenty of distractions during my vacation, it really wasn’t that hard to quit. But when I returned to work and fell back in my daily routine, those cravings were pretty loud. Thankfully I stayed strong and didn’t cave, but it can be difficult.

In case you’re also trying to break a soda habit, here are some tips I suggest:

  1. Keep a bottle of water nearby at all times. If you even feel the tinge of desire to drink a soda, drink some water. Being fully hydrated can help keep a lid on the cravings.
  2. Substitute an occasional flavorful drink during your transition. Drinking juice or sweet tea isn’t a long term solution to giving up your soda habit since these drinks have lots of calories. But during your “withdrawal” indulge a little. Just remember to ease back on these transition drinks after a week or so.
  3. Sparkling water can help if you miss the carbonated refreshment of soda.
  4. Have support. One of the reasons I chose to quit over the holidays was that I knew I’d be around family. Even though some family members drink diet soda, I knew they’d be supportive of my effort to quit.
  5. Find ways to give your water some zip. If plain water just isn’t enough for you, find some ways to spice it up by using lemons, limes, oranges, or mint.

Are there processed foods are beverages that you just can’t beat? Or have you vanquished some processed food gremlins from your diet and want to share how you did it. Please share your thoughts and comments below. I know we all have something to learn from each other.

As always, if you’ve enjoyed this post, please share it by pasting a link on your Facebook wall, liking it, or emailing it to a friend. And for more inside scoop on the world of food, please subscribe to my blog.

 

I’m happy to say I’ve been completely soft drink free for over a year now. I can honestly say I don’t even crave it now, but those first couple weeks were a challenge. So if you’re still “addicted,” do something for yourself and kick the habit using the tips I suggested above. And if you have a friend or family member that’s addicted, share this post with them and help them make a simple step towards a healthier life.

79 comments

← Previous Entries