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face the blame

Due to rising concerns about obesity lawsuits, Kraft Foods will be cutting portions in some of its packaging, including Oreos and Mac n Cheese.

Kraft said the changes it will make will include advertising and marketing to children to encourage appropriate eating behaviors and active lifestyles.

Rather than conform to the idea that food companies are responsible for a person's obesity, they should just change the labeling on their products.

WARNING: EATING ALL THESE OREOS IN ONE SITTING WILL MAKE YOU FAT!

WARNING: EATING AN ENTIRE BAR OF VELVEETA CHEESE IS A STUPID THING TO DO. YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT AND YOU WILL BE FARTING UP A STORM TOMORROW.

Even better, rather than changing the marketing that now exists towards children, the companies should gear the marketing towards the parents who actually buy the product, or just change tactics with the kids:

HEY, MOM AND DAD! THIS BOX OF COOKIES DOES NOT CONSTITUTE DINNER! GET OFF YOUR LAZY ASS AND WATCH WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE EATING!

Or, a public service announcement aired during cartoons:

circle.gifHey, kids! Does your mom and dad let you eat 20 Oreos at a time? Do you have Whoppers for dinner every night? Have you moved from in front of the tv in the past three days? Do your thighs rub together when you walk? If so, you may want to ask mom and dad why they want you to get FAT! Remember kids, it's not our fault that you're a size 22 in the third grade. We just make the products, your parents are the one who don't control your portion size or make you exercise. Blame them, not us!

They could call it the Face the Blame campaign.

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» America -- Land of the Lawsuit from Three Week Hobby Blog
I'm all about America and democracy and shit, but this is just fucking stupid. This is going to get worse before it gets better. http://asmallvictory.net/archives/003810.html... [Read More]

» Bravo! from Sitka Surfin'
Beautifully said: HEY, MOM AND DAD! THIS BOX OF COOKIES DOES NOT CONSTITUTE DINNER! GET OFF YOUR LAZY ASS AND WATCH WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE EATING!... [Read More]

» End-of-Week Blog Wrap-Up from Being Daddy
Fearing lawsuits from the obese, Kraft is cutting portions, but A Small Victory has a better idea -- a new ad campaign: Hey, kids! Does your mom and dad let you eat 20 Oreos at a time? Do you have... [Read More]

Comments

This is not good news. Kraft Mac n' Cheese has been a staple of my "diet" for years. I don't want it to literally become a staple of any real diet. That would be suck.

By the way, I wrote about my love for the stuff back in April: http://radio.weblogs.com/0117496/2003/04/22.html

Not that I'm obsessed or anything...

How much you want to bet the prices will stay the same?

<scowling at my popcorn>

Needs more cheese.

I think we should definitely start a Face The Blame campaign. I have eaten Oreos on and off for years and years (best with milk) and I am not a bloated obese blimp of a human. I don't even blame my cellulite on the foods I eat, so much as the fact that I don't exercise and I (me) sometimes overindulge. Me. Not Nabisco or Kraft or whoever.

I'm ecstatic to hear that they are revamping portion sizes.... If only McD's would do the same and nix the whole "upsize" idea. As if anyone needs to consume that much food (laden with that much fat) in one sitting... Thanks for the info, Michele.

It's a liability concern.
Since that fat kid sued McDonald's because she weighed 350lbs at 15. She blamed McDonald's because apparently, McDonald's didn't warn her that she could get fat eating there everyday.
Apparently, McDonald's is responsible for parenting this child and monitoring her eating habits.
Since that lawsuit, other companies need to take a proactive approach.
It's actually hitting two birds with one stone.
Do you think that the price of these smaller portion packages will go down?
I don't think so.
So, in effect, not only does Kraft care about our weight, but we'll pay weight watcher/Jenny Craig prices for the privilege.

Mmmmm, a stick of Velveeta would really hit the spot right now. No. Wait. Even better. A stick of Velveeta sandwiched between two Oreos. I shall dub the snack "Velvoreos."

That is just wrong. On many, many levels.

God dammit! I'll eat a package of Oreos if I damn well please. It's my inalienable right to binge.

Without Oreos I'll just have to turn to Scotch.

Great, lovely. So now all the companies have a new justification for charging us more...

"We're doing it for the children!" (so they won't get obese when their neglectful parents bring home Oreos and cheese-in-a-can and potato chips instead of real food)

yeah, great. I've never heard any "for the children" justification that didn't wind up costing me money.

Next, it'll be tvs that will only run if you are working out on the treadmill that is hooked up to them.

The Twelve Steps for Addicts of Fatty Foods

Study of these Steps is essential to progress in the Fatty Food recovery program. The principles they embody are universal, applicable to everyone, whatever your personal creed. In FFAA (Fatty Food Addicts Anonymous (ya, like we are able to hide the fact that we are freaking addicted to deep fried Twinkies)), we strive for an ever-deeper understanding of these Steps, and pray for the wisdom to apply them to our lives.

1. We admitted we were powerless over fatty foods -- that our cholesterol levels and the size of our gut, man boobs and/or saddle bags on our butts had become unmanageable. 

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than the Golden Arches could restore us to sanity. 

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of Richard Simmons as we understood Him. 

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves and of the health food store inventory and found nothing there that remotely resembled something that was edible or that would even taste good, but we considered having our stomachs stapled and that didn't sound fun either so we are basically doing this on will power until we give up, can't take it anymore, or have a nervous breakdown.

5. Admitted to the pimple-faced deaf kid with an IQ of under 42 and the listening and comprehension skills roughly that of a cockroach at our favorite drive-thru, to ourselves and to everyone that asked why we were in such a bad freaking mood and the exact nature of our wrongs and how a Biggie Meal at Wendy's solved all of that so quickly and effectively, and that if they didn't leave us alone and stop eating fatty foods in front of us we would take that carton of French Fries and feed it to them through their eye sockets.

6. Were entirely ready to have a shotgun remove all these defects of character. Only after we took out that stupid Subway guy (with said shotgun) that walks around thinking he's cool because he basically eats rabbit food on a bun three times a day.

7. Humbly asked a doctor to prescribe high doses of LSD, or other very mentally incapacitating drugs that would not give us the munchies,  to help us to remove (or at least help us not remember) our shortcomings and daily temptations to stop at Krispy Kreme for their NY Cheesecake styled long johns. 

8. Made a list of all people we had felt like eating since we stopped gorging ourselves with fatty foods, and became willing to make amends to them all and telling them that we would promise not to eat them no matter how desperate we got but that they also might want to stay away from us for a couple of decades or so. 

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would put their lives in direct jeopardy due to our sudden craving to sink our teeth into absolutely anything (including people) besides a piece of lettuce, a carrot that tasted like dirt, or a low-fat Fig Newton. 

10. Continued to take personal inventory of the over-priced lame items of healthy food in our house that took hours on end to prepare properly and when we we became finally desperate enough or at the last moment before it became expired or spoiled, promptly devoured it quickly hoping not to taste any of  it's hideous flavor on the way down. 

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our desire to somehow be able to just eat fruits and vegetables and other crappy foods that were supposed to be good for people, without feeling so depressed that we got dark circles under our eyes and had to spend every red cent we made (that we didn't have to save for the health food) on therapy just so someone wouldn't find us someday swinging from a shower rod or something.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these stupid Steps, we tried to carry this message to others, to warn them of our miserable way of living and to tell them that life simply isn't worth living without a daily ho-ho and ask them who really wants to live to be 80 freaking years old anyway?




























Ahh, you are "Velveta Shells and Cheese". You are expensive, no
denying this, but its the price you pay for quality. You
don't even require other food supplies. Water and a pan
is all you need to get by. That silver bag your cheese
comes in looks like something out of the 23rd century, but
it's cool! And those crevices in the shells hold the cheese
so well... You Rock!

Take the What Kind of Macaroni and Cheese Are You? Quiz

Created by LJ User RobProv222











"Velvoreos." HAHA!

The hands-off approach to parenting, which leads to companies like Kraft to resort to labeling their foods like that, is just sad, though.

This'll screw up my formula for Chilimac something fierce... If the box size of the mac changes I'll have to do math on the level of hot dog/bun ratio to figure out how many boxes of mac vs cans of chili instead of the blessedly simple 1 box + 1 can it takes now. If you haven't tried this food, I reccomend it highly... just don't mix the chili in when you mix the cheese. Wait til you mix the cheese into the mac before adding chili... I don't quite know how that changes it, but it does...

Man, I get disappointed when I CAN'T finish the entire package of Oreos when I start. Hey - if you're going to do something, go for the gold.

In twenty years the entire line of Kraft foods will be condensed in one nutritious paste known only as Kraft. It will be tastless but very healthy. Entire countries will depend on it. It will cost billions but its "for our children." Stock up on your Easy Mac' now. I predict a world wide black market on current junk food.

Ever see Demolision Man??? That's gonna be me down in the sewer enjoying my rat burgers and home made Mac 'n' Cheese,

You actually eat all this stuff?

I can't believe the stupidity of these lawsuits. The onlier stubider thing is the ones made against the gun industry or the way perverts try to get into the Boy Scouts.

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