August 21, 2013 | <\/p>\n
New rule (as Bill Maher would say): If you make billions of dollars a year selling unhealthy food, you don\u2019t get to tell us to work out.<\/p>\n
It was one thing when Cookie Monster began telling kids to eat vegetables. Cookie Monster doesn\u2019t earn a living by selling cookies, and vegetables are a fantastic alternative to cookies.<\/p>\n
But it was a totally different story when Ronald McDonald went all Richard Simmons on us, visiting schools to tell kids to work out.<\/p>\n
Exercise is a great idea, but it\u2019s not diet advice. Yet this is a frequent tactic of many of the corporations that rake in profits by selling us junk.<\/p>\n
Take Coca-Cola\u2019s shameless new fitness campaign. \u201cAre you sitting on a solution?\u201d asks a photo on the company\u2019s website, depicting two people cuddled up, sitting on a beach. The thing is, they\u2019re drinking the problem: Coca-Cola.<\/p>\n
Let me translate Coke\u2019s new campaign into plain English: \u201cDon\u2019t blame us for America\u2019s public health crisis.\u201d The company is also asking you to not notice that while the American Heart Association recommends no more than six teaspoons of sugar per day for women (nine for men), a single can of Coca-Cola has nearly 10 teaspoons of the sweet stuff.<\/p>\n
Or maybe this is what the ad campaign is really saying: \u201cPlease ignore the fact that, over the years, we\u2019ve sold our flagship product in larger and larger containers. Just exercise a bit more \u2014 here, we\u2019ll even help with some tips \u2014 and then you won\u2019t notice that our product is terrible for you. Keep drinking Coke, and don\u2019t regulate us.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message, anyway. And what\u2019s more pathetic is that some folks are falling for it. <\/p>\n