Food Ads in TV!

[Lady Schist]

scream

Does anyone else notice that if they try to watch TV when you're on a diet, even if you've just eaten a mild, nice meal, you get hungry? It's food ads! How infuriating!

In my sociology class, we learned that we are subjected to over 3000 advertisements a day. And I believe it, as soon as I came back here (to the computer) I wasn't hungry anymore.

I find it really just a signifier that big corporations don't have anyone's best interests at heart but their own. Supposedly in North America there is an 'obesity epidemic' and still they get away with trying to sell you on meat packed, nastiness full of fat.

Mur. Has anyone else had this kind of thing happen to them?  

[Divash]

I've had it happen so often, as have some of my best friends, that we've even developed a name for it: Food porn. It makes you drool and want the real thing, even when you don't actually need it.

We've come up with a way to enjoy it, though. We go ahead and watch the food porn (commercials, or people eating on TV shows, or people talking about food), and then we immediately trigger ourselves to say, "I wonder how much fat is in that. I wonder what we could do to make that in a healthier, more flavorful way."

Big steaming plate of lasagna? Imagine making it with low-fat or non-fat cheese, mixed in with spinach leaves replacing half of the cheese and mushrooms replacing all of the meat. Veggies create a look and feel of bulk, without adding unnecessary fat and calories. Also, adding just a little bit of parmesan cheese instead of a whole lot of mozzarella will give you a very cheesy flavor while cutting down on the amount of mozzarella you need in order to get that flavor.

Huge pretty cheesecake? Make your own: 1 16-oz tub of fat free ricotta cheese, blended with 1 package of fat-free sugar-free pudding mix (I like the Cheesecake flavor or the White Chocolate flavor, myself), spooned into a reduced-fat graham cracker crust. It's not calorie free, especially thanks to the pie crust, but it's about 1/4 of the calories you would have consumed, and WAY less fat.

Food porn doesn't have to make you fat. You can use it to fuel your creativity with your own healthier choices.  

[Kiwi Girl]

Lol@food porn. Suiting name for it.

Since I've moved back in with my mom and dad I've started watching more TV (I didn't have cable or a very nice TV when I was on my own). It was overwhelming to see so many advertisements for food. x_x; But, like Divash said, think of ways you can enjoy things that look super delicious on TV so that they won't get the better of you when you finally give in. If you really want that cinnamon roll or cookie (for example) limit your intake and don't buy a huge box of cookies or more cinnamon rolls to take home.  

[Iconised Ghost]

Big corporations? Care? rofl

Fast food ads dont make me want to eat them- ads for stuff like KFC, Pizza Hut, MacDonalds. They just tend to make me angry sweatdrop Like "who the hell do you think you are? You think im dumb enough to eat that crap! Dont insult my intelligence". Its the smell of food that gets to me more

Divash

. Veggies create a look and feel of bulk, without adding unnecessary fat and calories.

Yup thats so true! Like we used to make spaghetti bolognase with about 2/3 grated carrot and 1/3 mince meat. It was so much more filling and it tasted really good  

[__penguin__]

I still sometimes get affected by food adveritisements, but not fast food ones. I'm so over fast food and their stupid adveritisements and their stupid brainwashing of people. Rrrr! I reccomend that you all go out and read the book Fast Food Nation. It basically lists everything that's wrong with fast food (it's not just the high fat content, it's mostly the invasive adveritising!).

Y'know how cigarette ads were banned a few years ago? Well, fast food is almost as bad as cigarettes (the only thing that makes it better is that you can't get secondhand calories!). It's terrible for your health and highly addictive. I'm wondering if they should ban fast food ads, too. whee Well, I doubt that would happen and I'm not sure if it would be fair (freedom of speech? I dunno), but still.  

[Divash]

The US laws on freedom of speech do not apply to advertisements; to online chat (that isn't from a government-run website); blogs; conversations between individuals. Let's look at the text of that Amendment to the US Constitution, shall we?

Quote:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The highlighted parts are the important bits. "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech." If they can ban cigarette ads as harmful, then they could (if they wanted) also ban alcohol ads and fast food ads. If they can create anti-smoking and anti-drinking and anti-drug commercials, then they could, if they wanted, create anti-fast food commercials. If they can impose laws concerning the ages of people who smoke and drink, they could impose laws concerning the ages at which people are (or should be) able to make a reasonably informed decision about ruining their health with fast food, too.

They simply do not want to do it -- nor should they do it. The only person who can live your life is you. Congress doesn't get fat when you get fat. Congress doesn't live with your diabetes, heart problems, stroke, or not being able to find cute clothes that fit you. Congress doesn't have to care, and in fact, that's as it should be, because if they cared, they would be restricting your freedoms "for your own good," and you'd hate them for it.  

[Iconised Ghost]

Divash

They simply do not want to do it -- nor should they do it. The only person who can live your life is you. Congress doesn't get fat when you get fat. Congress doesn't live with your diabetes, heart problems, stroke, or not being able to find cute clothes that fit you. Congress doesn't have to care, and in fact, that's as it should be, because if they cared, they would be restricting your freedoms "for your own good," and you'd hate them for it.

but they did it for smoking neutral Congress doesnt die when you die. Congress doesnt live with your lung cancer, gangrene, asthma, heart problems and all the other potential consequences of smoking. They didnt have to care there, but they intervened "for ouw own good" and people dont generally seem to hate them for it  

[__penguin__]

Yeah, I'm kind of torn on that part... on one hand, it would make some people a lot healthier, but on the other hand, it really should be a personal responsibility. whee  

[Lady Schist]

While I think it should be a personal responsibility, these are the images going to our kids all the time. EAT. CONSUME. And what's more is that these foods aren't even good for you.  

[Iconised Ghost]

it is a personal responsibility, but at the same time i think food companies should have the same responsibility as cigarrette companies. So on ads for fast food there should come health warnings xd no really, im serious, they really should. They should also tell you how long it would take an average person to burn off their food. That would really put ppl off eating fast food i think, especially people who are trying to diet  

[Kittymutt]

Lol no it doesn't make me hungry. It actually keeps me from eating. I heart Food Network! biggrin  

[lenady]

The fast food industry has been getting alot better though really. Alot of the restaurants have the nutritional information right in front of you if you care to look at it, and alot of them are coming up with lower calorie alternatives. Personally I think if you're too lazy to flip over the paper on your mcdonald's tray or look at the side of your cup it's your own fault. Of course, considering how much fast food I still eat I'm not really one to talk, but being a poor college student and all those places really help your pocketbook, as well as your sanity. What frustrates me is the larger restaurants like Ruby Tuesdays and Ihop that don't even post nutitional information on their website.

As for the food cravings coming from commericals... not really. What I do is turn it to food network or something and get ideas for healthier foods that I can fix at home instead or look up neat low calorie recipes online to try out. I guess I just redirect my cravings slightly.  

[Iconised Ghost]

thats true, but at the same time i dont think they are totally up front about their food either. They still advertise things as being low fat, when they are still high in sugar (not just fast food companies but other food producing companies as well). And while its not untrue to say its 99% fat free or whatever, i still think it is misleading to promote those foods as healthy alternatives. Didnt they find that macdonalds salads have more sugar in the dressings than...something else i cant remember? >.<

Although you are right, the total calories in macdonalds food would still be shown on the otherside of the tray or cup and that would include what you are getting from the sugar. Although my problem is that when i order things at macdonalds usually i dont have a tray or cup handy to check before i buy >.< Some of the stores have posters, but not all. So i end up guessing. My policy is dont go there unless you are prepared to have something pretty large in calories sweatdrop  

[Divash]

I took a look at Weight Watchers Dining Out Guide and looked up the points in typical menu items at various restaurants. For me, lunch is the biggest meal of the day, usually about ten points. I also spend about four points on breakfast and the remaining eight points for dinner, because I get 22 points per day.

A McDonald's hamburger, I seem to recall, is 6 points. Not too bad. Adding cheese makes it 9 points. Not terrible. (No vegetable portions are covered by these, though, so your mileage may vary.) Their small french fry is 5 points.

Denny's has a SINGLE menu item that costs a whopping 52 points. That's more than double my daily amount of points, and according to someone I know who ate that item once, it's not even all that filling!

Message: Let the eater beware.  

[Kill Nate]

__penguin__

I still sometimes get affected by food adveritisements, but not fast food ones. I'm so over fast food and their stupid adveritisements and their stupid brainwashing of people. Rrrr! I reccomend that you all go out and read the book Fast Food Nation. It basically lists everything that's wrong with fast food (it's not just the high fat content, it's mostly the invasive adveritising!).

Y'know how cigarette ads were banned a few years ago? Well, fast food is almost as bad as cigarettes (the only thing that makes it better is that you can't get secondhand calories!). It's terrible for your health and highly addictive. I'm wondering if they should ban fast food ads, too. whee Well, I doubt that would happen and I'm not sure if it would be fair (freedom of speech? I dunno), but still.

Could you imagine secondhand calories? You're out eating dinner with a friend and you get a nice delicious salad and she orders this gigantic steak and bacon burger of doom with the greasiest onion rings you've ever seen. Then as she's eating, you feel the pounds slowly moving on to you.