It’s no secret that there is a ton of negativity and unhealthy information promoted by the media on a daily basis. Whether its diet ads, bogus exercise equipment, ‘get fit quick’ schemes, or an expose of what star is losing/gaining weight. I try to just ignore most of the stuff that’s out there as I know what’s healthy and what’s not…but every once in a while it all just gets to me. Not because I feel like it affects my own thoughts on health, but because it has the potential to powerfully influence the millions of people out there who are looking for answers, trying to become healthier, or easily swayed by the latest trends. Frankly….sometimes the media SUCKS.
I’ve written about potentially harmful advertisements, magazines (I even held a contest for ‘alternative’ magazine covers!), and commercials in the past and the bad influence they can have on impressionable people. I thought it was important to bring up this topic again in lieu of a commercial I recently saw on TV…needless to say, it made me a bit upset:
If you didn’t watch the video the basic premise is that a girls mother is swapping out her ‘high calorie’ normal snack for a Yoplait lite yogurt. This is bothersome. Not only is the girl in the commercial not overweight in the slightest and certainly does not need to be dieting, but also, teens seeing this ad may start to question their own size and weight in comparison with the girl in the ad. Thinking things like ‘Well if she needs to be eating diet yogurt? Then maybe I do to?’.
Yoplait is a notorious diet food and often promotes weight loss, ‘shrinking’, and dieting with their products. Their most popular promotional campaign involves replacing one meal or snack with one of their artificially sweetened, fat free yogurts. They call it a “swapportunity”.
There are two main things about this ad that really bother me…
1. I’ve never been a fan of companies that use their products to promote weight loss. Especially something like yogurt. It’s not yogurt that’s going to make you healthy, it’s about total changes in lifestyle choices. But it’s one thing to target adults with this type of trickery, and another thing entirely when a company like this starts targeting kids! The fact that a teenager is being used in this commercial is sending such a dangerous message to the youth of America. Basically, making dieting and swapping out normal foods with diet products seem normal….and even right! That is not something kids need to be told nowadays. With all the focus on outward appearances, weight, size, and comparison, having a company put out a message that a parent thinks that her child should be eating these types of products (one that is so synonymous with dieting) is extremely irresponsible. I can just imagine all the teen girls out there, who are struggling with confidence and self esteem as it is, feeling obligated to restrict themselves to these stupid yogurts because it’s the ‘healthy’ thing to do. While it’s important to be conscious of healthy living, if a choice has to be made, I think teens are better off being a little more carefree and unfocused on eating habits rather than the reverse….being too hyper aware and focused on those things leads to obsession, restriction, and disordered eating. Plus, if they are basing their ideas of health on commercials and products like the one above, they will develop a totally warped perspective on what it means to truly be healthy. One that is wrought with dieting, calorie counting, losing pounds/inches/fat, and just all around SADNESS. If anything, the teen years are about growing, exploring, and becoming a more aware of who you are as person. If dieting seeps into teens minds, then the focus turns towards getting smaller…physically, mentally, and emotionally. That’s not fair. People should feel worthy of the space they take up in the world and that they are valued for who they are internally.
2. I am all for choosing healthier options when it comes to snacks or meals. But choosing a fat free yogurt that’s not made with wholesome ingredients and is less than 100 calories? Well, first off that is going to do nothing for your hunger. And secondly, it’s simply not enough calories or nutrients to provide you with any nutritional benefit. Also, the fact that all the Yoplait flavors try to mimic “indulgent” things like pies, cakes, and other desserts just screams deprivation to me! Instead of allowing themselves to have a little bit of what they actually want, people are reaching for these diet yogurts, not being satisfied by them (and actually craving more sugar because of the artificial sugars), and then reaching for the less healthy foods anyways. So what’s the point?!
[both are just sugar bombs…one with a little more carbs and one with a little more protein]
I’d much rather see a commercial advocating whole grains, lean proteins, and fruits and veggies! How about focusing on ADDING healthy things to our diets instead of always removing things and making silly switches?
This is not an attack on Yoplait, per say…but more of just an feeling of being FED UP with stupid diet ads. Enough already!
[Note: I understand that for people that are overweight and jeopardizing their health in that way, swapping a yogurt for a higher calorie food can be helpful. But that is an entirely different topic from what I am trying to cover in this post. This post is about the negative effects on for youth, who don’t need to be dieting, to be targeted by the media and big powerful companies.]
So what are your thoughts?
Have you seen this commercial or something like it? The Special K ads really bother me as well!
Do you think it is socially irresponsible of Yoplait to target teens in their new ad?
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Kaila
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15 responses to “Asinine Ads”
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Thank you for bringing light to this! I think it is terrible that dieting ads are starting to target teens. It is no secret that children are starting to diet earlier and earlier and the fact that the media is using this to their advantage and now targeting teens is scary. 8 year olds are already feeling pressure to be thin and diet, so what’s next? A commercial target elementary school children. This is horrible.
You hit a major – major problem right on the mark Kaila. Advertisement has become an evil in some regards…especially when it involves youth. I’m going to share your blog with others! Thanks…Linda.
this is an excellent post, kaila. it also totally infuriates me because it reminds me just how desperate marketers are to sell products. they will stoop to any level! i completely think it’s inappropriate to suggest that a teen should be eating yogurt to be on a diet. and yeah i used to live off those light n fit things for awhile, but i’m way happier now with my plain chobani, that’s for damn sure. i was a marketing major and am fascinated by marketing, advertising, and PR. i love learning about it. but i also love using my knowledge to speak out against irresponsible marketing practices like this.
it reminds me of something i heard recently about mcdonald’s. they are going to publish their own children’s books. ok, if that’s not disguised advertising to kids, IDK what is.
I totally agree, you may even remember the Special K commercials. All the women are thin and beautiful and yet, they all are tying to drop 10 lbs in two weeks. Are you kidding me! They don’t even have 10 lbs to drop. I think it is ridiculous and the image that it produces in young people is sickening. I mean, the young generation seems to think that if they didn’t loose the 10 lbs then they are a failure and that there is something wrong with THEM! Not the media, and to replace a healthy meal with sugar and carbs (not implying carbs are bad…just the processed one are) is not a healthy choice if you ask me.
I completely agree! The special K commercials are a great example of this harmful trend.
[…] + Asinine Ads […]
I think the Yoplait ads are some of the worst–I know they’ve pulled some off TV in the past because they featured some disordered content. I think what bothers me the most about this recent ad is that Yoplait is claiming that their products are ‘healthier’ than the higher calorie snacks you’re supposed to swap out, but they’re really only healthier in the sense that they’re lower in calories–they still are full of artificial ingredients and do nothing to satisfy your hunger! Personally, I’d rather eat something higher in calories that will keep me satisfied AND has ingredients I can recognize and feel good about putting into my body.
Love what you said here! The yogurts really are only ‘healthier’ in terms of calories…THAT’S IT! And even then they’re not really serving their purpose because they’re too LOW in calories!
I don’t watch a lot of TV, so I am not exposed to these ads. Unfortunately I eat Yoplait light yogurt on a regular basis. I will now be switching to plain chobani. It will be better for me anyway. For a while I was going to blog about marketing scams, but found it all to be overwhelming and depressing.
That’s awesome that you’ll be making the switch girl! Good choice 🙂
As usual, I love your insight on this topic, and I have a million different thoughts that I will try to restrain a bit. 🙂
I just read a research paper about how to tackle disordered eating from a socio-ecological (macro) level, and the proposal of banning diet ads from television, where kids might encounter them–similar to tobacco and alcohol advertising restrictions–was very interesting to me. [Diet pill and meal delivery systems are also a little concerning.] Much of my study is how media influences our eating behaviors, and why we end up normalizing disorder, and yes, we do have to help people lose weight who are in jeopardy. However, I like the concept you propose about adding healthy foods to our diets rather than restricting.
That is so interesting to compare diet ads with smoking ads! Makes sense thought in terms of their deeply negative impacts on the impressionable youth that see them! I definitely agree the media influences our eating behaviors…it makes disordered eating appear to be the norm.
The sickest part of this new ad campaign is that teens are SO vulnerable to it. They are already insecure and comparing themselves to everyone! Ugh, makes me mad.
Exactly! Teens are very impressionable as it is and these ads take advantage of youth and naivety. It’s SICK!
[…] shared my view on numerous diet food and diet product commercials in the past and I hope that by building awareness about the potentially harmful messages in this type of media, […]