The Canadian National Newspaper: Taking personal responsibility in health and nutrition

Until I began work at a public relations company doing media monitoring for Kellogg Co., I'd barely given food commercials a second thought.

[Frosted Flakes.jpg] [Kids_with_cereal.jpg] Sure, they make you laugh (at their total corniness), they warm your heart (with fury at the bad acting), they bring a tear to your eye (because they happen right before the Dharma counter runs out on Lost), and they're a good time to strike up conversation with your TV-watching compadre while you wait for the show to resume.

And apparently, they also make kids fat.

In January of this year, mother of three Sherri Carlson slapped Kellogg's and Nickelodeon (Spongebob masterminds) across the face with a billion-dollar lawsuit to stop them from marketing junk foods to kids. She was angry that her kids' favourite Nickelodeon characters are plastered on the front of cereal boxes at the supermarket, as this sort of thing was encouraging them to eat sugary foods.

It wasn't all that easy, of course - she had backing from the Center for Science in the Public Interest - who yelled loud enough to get the media's attention, and who connected the issue with childhood obesity. Eventually the Centre managed to put her emo tears into words the court would understand: that advertising directed at children under 13 should be banned.

As of right now, however, the case seems to have been bumped to the caboose of the media train. My guess is Kellogg's and Viacom (Nickelodeon's owners) will prolong this hearing as long as they possibly can so that Ms. Carlson either runs out of money by the time it comes around, or moves on and sues Daylight Savings Time for making her kids want to stay up later than their bedtime during the summer.

But whether or not it comes to pass is superfluous - the underlying question remains: Is she right? Is advertising really to blame for kids' waning health and escalating obesity? Have media become the mother and father of the current generation - rearing, providing shelter for, and feeding our children?

Whatever happened to just saying no? Your child wants Frosted Flakes because Dora the Explorer is grinning at her from the box? No. Your child runs into the kitchen after a commercial for Froot Loops, demanding that you buy the cereal next time you go shopping because he just saw Spongebob help himself to a nice, hearty bowl?

If more parents started saying no, less sugary products would be bought. And if less sugary products were bought, what then, would happen to mammoth companies like Kellogg's?

So before you throw on your #1 Mom t-shirt and tapered jeans and go charging forth into the world of multi-billion dollar corporations, stop and rethink your strategy. You could save a lot of money, a lot of time, and a lot of your pride with one simple, two-letter word. They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Allow us to introduce the power of no.