1. Allison

June 14, 2007 @ 6:07 pm

No way. It’s not the advertisers’ fault. It lies on the parents with the money who buy this crap for their kids. If something’s unhealthy, don’t buy it. (lightbulb!)
There are LOADS of healthier cereals and foods to choose from. Sorry you can’t stand to see your little poopsie-kins throw himself on Safeway’s floor. Don’t blame the box of Spongebob Cereal because you can’t say no!

2. Kim

June 14, 2007 @ 7:23 pm

Last I checked I was an adult that was in charge of my kids. I know how to tell them “No” regardless of what is on, in or the coolest item selling at that time. I don’t need a lawsuit to tell me how to parent, if I buy it and my kids gain weight, that is MY problem. What’s next, come check my pantry and charge me extra for the girl scout cookies I have stashed?

3. Cara

June 15, 2007 @ 8:57 am

I just saw Supersize Me last night and they talked about the whole issue of marketing to children. I totally agree that as parents it’s up to us to buy nutritious things for our children. But I think the point that some people are trying to make is that by being heavily marketed to as children, when they ARE old enough to purchase their own food they will choose those products that are so ingrained into their little minds from years of advertising.

I know that as soon as I started babysitting around age 13 and having some money of my own, I would frequently blow it on candy and fast food because it’s something my parents would never buy for me. And who didn’t gain at that “Freshman 15″ when they went to college because they were in charge of what they were eating for the first time?

4. Petulant Pixie

June 16, 2007 @ 6:49 am

I do think it’s up to parents to make good choices for their kids, but….obviously, there’s a reason why companies sink billions of dollars into advertising–it works. To what degree? I don’t know. I do think that kids are more swayed than adults (duh), so marketing junk for them is ethically questionable, but I seriously doubt if this alone will have any measurable impact at all on the childhood obesity problem.

On a selfish note, I will be sad to see the Bugs and Dirt and Pirates cereals go, because they were just plain good. Like better than candy good. And, I realize I don’t even know the warthog and meerkat’s names on the Bugs and Dirt cereal (from The Lion King) but I bet my kids do (and they’ve never seen The Lion King).

5. Cristina

June 16, 2007 @ 10:13 am

While parents certainly have the ability to say “no” to their kids when they want something they shouldn’t have, I still think that advertisers marketing sugary cereals to kids is borderline unethical - particularly because of the volumn of ads out there.

The cereals are addicting, particularly when eaten regularly. And we have a childhood obesity crisis in this country that’s costing all of us a lot of money - not to mention the devastating affect it is having on children’s health.

Again, parents have the ultimate responsibility here. But I also think the EVERYONE (parents, government, private sector) need to share the responsibility to keep the public healthy.

6. hl

June 19, 2007 @ 11:10 am

This sounds so much like the whole Internet/TV content debate–
“We need freedom of speech and the parents should just control what their kids watch.” True, and a big part of parenthood means being the “meanie” who sets limits and says no far more than any of us would like to do.

However…as pointed out by Cara and as reiterated (ad nauseum?) by those defending limits on what can be viewed, parents are not raising their kids in a vacuum. Unless we expect to tie our kids hand and foot in a darkened room, spoon-feeding them their every last nutrient and selecting every single thing that passes before their little eyes, they WILL be exposed to the culture around them.

If we don’t respect and love the children throughout our society, we will just allow all kinds of images/advertisements/allurements to surround them wherever they go and then wonder why they are affected by it all.

Yes, parents need to be far more involved with their kids’ lives and decision processes than they are, but we all “need to share the responsibility to keep the public healthy.”

7. Allison

June 19, 2007 @ 12:48 pm

But why does it always have to come down to the “blame game”. It’s always someone else’s fault!
“Shame on Kellogg’s because my kid can’t resist sugarry cereals.”
What’s next? “Shame on Ford because the car is capable of going 100+ MPH and I just couldn’t tell myself to go the safe speed limit.”

OF COURSE the cereal companies are going to market to kids. Because it’s YOU who has to listen to “Please. Please. Please. Please. Please.” until you hit your breaking point, not them.

I’ll admit. I caved to my kids whining and bought the variety box of sugar cereal from Costco. Luckily for me, they caught on to the fact that the stuff tastes like SHIT, and it ended up going stale in our cabinet. Now we just stick to Cheerios and corn flakes.

I don’t just tell my kids to wear a seatbelt or helmet, I tell them what could happen if they didn’t. Why not explain to your kids about how too much sugarry food can lead to obesity and diabetes. Ask a local nursing home to give you a tour of the diabetic wing. I’m sure just the sight of someone pricking their finger, then injecting themselves with insulin via A NEEDLE (gasp!) will turn kids off quickly.

8. Deb

June 19, 2007 @ 1:08 pm

I’m with Allison —
My 4-year-old daughter understands that even though some foods taste really good they are not healthy and are ‘junk food’. How does she know this? Because I told her! She also knows the importance of eating healthy foods to grow up ‘big and strong’. Does she ask for junk food - of course! Does she always get it - NO! It’s called parenting.

I hate all the advertising of sugary foods to kids but if we are going to hold marketers and companies like Kellogg’s responsible - why stop there? Poor diet isn’t the only culprit in childhood obesity. How about the fact that they’re sitting in front of the TV in the first place? Maybe we should sue Sony for making TVs? Or PBS and Nickelodean for airing programs for kids? And how about videogames? All that sitting around ‘virtually’ playing allows those sugary foods to turn right into fat. Let’s go after Nintendo too!

Come on people! It’s the parents’ job to set limits - including limits on how much of that advertising they allow their kids to be exposed to (it’s called turning off the TV). And regarding the argument of “when they’re older…”: when you say ‘No’ explain WHY you’re saying no. Like I said, my 4-year-old gets this!

9. Mike

June 20, 2007 @ 12:12 am

We will take responsibility for our kids. But these advertisers are fighting us and they’re powerful! They can have a huge effect on our kids minds. We are trying to raise our kids properly and these
marketing people are working in direct opposition to that.
Personal responsibility, my butt. This is corperate power against individual families. There oughta be a law.

10. Karen

June 22, 2007 @ 2:30 pm

Of course its not the parents fault! Can we just accept that for once we are being let off the hook?

Im kidding, in case you did not get that.

The whole sugar cereal is something I look at from the outside-in on (does that make sense?) As a kid the most suger I ever got in a cereal was when Kix came out with berry berry kix…and I think I was already a teenager. I remeber the time I tricked my mom into buying chocolate cereal…thinking I was the smart one…what did she know…one of the many moments I realized that my mother is always right.
The bottom line is they market it, we cave, we let our 2 year olds have a tv in thier room, eat too much fast food and have forgotten that it is really not essential to be on the go 24/7. Of course the food marketers have some responsability. Just like parents, network exects., toy makers and wal mart. (why not blame them - they deserve it the most) The obesity problem in kids is bigger than a box of fruit loops…but any move in a healthy direction is a good one.

11. Beta Mum

June 27, 2007 @ 11:14 am

Advertising may increase the pestering, but it’s still perfectly possible to say “no”. I also try not to let them watch TV with adverts - not so much chance of that in the USofA I guess.

12. Dawn

July 24, 2008 @ 6:32 am

To blame Burger King McDonalds, Kelloggs, General Millls ect ect for childhood obesity is stupid. Back in my teens I struggled with eating disorders. I was always a skinny kid, But I felt I needed to starve myself. I had to learn it is not what we eat it is how much of it we eat.
Childhood Obesity? Why blame it on what we feed our kids, I know I have a better idea, lets all sue the computer companies, Nintendo, Saga, playstation, ect.
sounds stupid, doesn’t it?

13. GrandmafrmKs.

July 24, 2008 @ 1:16 pm

I think we need to go back to home cooked meals, the fast food places are making a killing off of ppl who are killing their selves and their kids,

I had a women the other day tell me that fresh veggies and fruit is so expensive that it’s hard to feed a family healthy food, Well she was saying this as she handed over 30.00 dollars for fast food, well excuse me she does this at least 3-4 times a week, you are kidding me right? I could feed her family for a whole lot less if I cooked.

She went on to say one night she had spent like 60.00 on stuff for one meal, but when I asked how much was left, like BBQ sauce and things we don’t but every day, she was “oh I did’t think of that” Oh my Lord this women is 40 yrs old, and still buying fast food, b/c it’s cheaper? No! it’s easier and quicker.

I do eat out, not so much fast food, can’t handle Micky D’s, but I never raised my kids on fast food, or sugary cereal, could’nt afford it, I did cook breakfast tho, even tho my adult kids still do not put sugar on cereal, they allow their kids to, different generation, Grandma just come from a different era.

Karen, “it’s not the parents fault” I like that and you will hear a lot of parents say “well they saw it on T.V.” Sooooooooo “OFF” button, some of my grandkids watch way too much T.V. while chomping on a meal from Mickey D’s. Don’t suggest they go ride that 150.00 bike they wanted so bad, It’s too hot out, My lord if there is any older posters on here (like me) what did we do with out AC? T.V. Video Games, Oh yeah Cell phones, and yes even credit cards, Oh my God how did our parents treat us so bad? LOL

14. Mary Beth

July 24, 2008 @ 2:08 pm

Correct me if I am wrong, but can’t parents just say “NO” to buying anything their kids may want from seeing it advertised. I cannot tell you how many times I have been in a grocery store and my three kids would be begging me to buy a cereal because it had a toy or because they saw it on tv and it is supposed to be awesome. I just said, “No.”

Why punish a company for advertising cereal for kids? Just don’t buy it if you don’t want it.

I wish someone would do something about all the Levitra, Cialis and Viagra commercials that are aired during ballgames. I have teenage boys and it is so embarassing to be watching a game with them and see these commercials about E.D. all the time. And if that is not enough, there are signs for the drugs hanging up on the fields so that they are in the background for all to see while watching the game! I think this is a bigger problem that cereal advertisements.

15. Mary Beth

July 24, 2008 @ 2:10 pm

Grandma, you are so right. How did we ever survive without happy meals, cellphones and video games? My mom used to lock us out of the house when she was cleaning the floors. If we were thirsty, we just drank out of the garden hose and didn’t think a thing of it. Now they have to have bottled water or Gatorade or soda don’t they? haha! And they wonder why obesity is a growing problem for kids!

16. Stacey S_MOD

July 24, 2008 @ 7:55 pm

If I can blame Snap, Crackle, and Pop for making me fat does that mean I can blame Camel Joe for making me smoke? SWEET! Now who can I blame for making me drink? hmmm….

17. Mary Beth

July 24, 2008 @ 8:10 pm

Jose Cuervo!!

18. Stacey S_MOD

July 24, 2008 @ 8:12 pm

Yeah…him & Captain Morgan! Those bastards!

19. Mary Beth

July 24, 2008 @ 8:23 pm

I heard that Jack Daniels is in on it, too!