TV says: High Fructose Corn Syrup Totally Fine
In case you had any questions about natural, delicious sweeteners, such as sugar, honey and HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, the good people at the Corn Refiners Association have opened up a website, www.sweetsurprise.com, and have started running this ad:
It seems that the silly white woman in the ad knows that HFCS offends her middle class sensibilities, but can’t seem to remember why. She also refers to “eating” a beverage. It seems like the executives at the Corn Refiner’s Association, blinded by the diabetes they got from consuming their own products, were unable to use a computer or read a newspaper to find out the various reasons why High Fructose Corn Syrup is liquid evil.
They do make a good point – everyone seems to have a vague idea that HFCS is bad, but seem to be unable to articulate it. Here’s a few articles that say what the woman in the ad might have meant to say if the wasn’t on script, and if you need a grain of salt, a link to a site run by our unbiased friends at the Corn Refiner’s Association.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR2008030603294.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/01/05/fructose-part-two.aspx
Without having to sell directly to consumers, the HFCS producers have never developed the extensive public relations departments that cigarette producers had when they first came under attack, so it’s no surprise that this foray into advertisement is memorable only for being idiotic. The Corn Refiner’s Association is on the defensive, and they don’t know what to do. They’re taking the first steps to casting themselves as the evil corporation in the public eye.
There’s a great documentary by two Yale alumni about some of these issues. The trailer is on this website:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/kingcorn/
What a gross advertisement. Not to mention absurd.
Regarding the bright red “healthy” beverage. I guess food color is good for us, too, now…?