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

Over 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.

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