Shrek, the Health Advocate
Some amusing news today. It looks like a certain group of conscious activists don’t like the idea of having a big, fat, green ogre telling kids how to stay healthy:
A children's advocacy group wants the Department of Health and Human Services to oust Shrek, the animated ogre, from his role as spokesman for an anti-obesity drive.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood says the soon-to-open "Shrek the Third" has too many promotional ties with unhealthy foods to justify using Shrek as a health advocate.
They’re actually right here, you know. I actually remember not too long ago when Shrek 2 was being advertised for with the worst possible junk food tie-ins imaginable. Not just because of the junk food itself, but because the campaigns seemed just plain nasty. I remember going to Baskin and Robbins and seeing a standup poster with Shrek, Donkey and Puss’n Boots posing like they were in a threesome behind a giant ice cream shake. I also remember the Twinkies ad with Shrek and a green goo-filled Twinkie positioned over what would have been his crotch (had his image not been cropped) with the slogan “Where’s the Ogre Filling?” All this could just be my dirty mind at work, but hey. Advertisers know that this kind of subliminal advertising is worth a shot. Why would they not try it for children’s ads?
So now that brings us to 2007 when Shrek the Third is about to be released. And thanks to this link from the article, you can see what’s probably only a handful of the products that the movie is being advertised with. And so far, I see no foreplay in these promos, but it’s junk food nonetheless:
http://www.kelloggs.com/promotions/shrek_the_third/
"There is an inherent conflict of interest between marketing junk food and promoting public health," Susan Linn, the group's director, wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt.
"Surely Health and Human Services can find a better spokesperson for healthy living than a character who is a walking advertisement for McDonald's, sugary cereals, cookies and candy," said Linn, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
HHS spokesman Bill Hall said the department had no intention of halting the public service ads, which were launched in February.
The ad campaign — which seeks to curtail childhood obesity — is a joint project of HHS, the Ad Council's Coalition for Healthy Children and DreamWorks Animation SKG, creator of the three Shrek movies. It features ads in which Shrek, a stout and often clumsy ogre, and his fellow characters urge children to exercise at least an hour a day.
"Shrek is a very well known character in the target population of this campaign," Hall said. "We have always promoted a balanced, healthy diet, which does not necessarily exclude the occasional treat."
Now that you’re all probably wondering what these exercise ads really look like, you’ll probably want to sit through four hours of Ed, Edd and Eddy on Cartoon Network just to see if they’ll advertise for it in the breaks, but since I’d rather not let you put yourself through that torture, here’s the ad on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-zEDbl04NY
It actually seems that Donkey is more the one advertising here, but Shrek’s got his bit in there as well. I’d say these guys are within their rights to request that Shrek be removed from these ads. But other than the already mentioned complaints, I’d have to wonder what the advertisers were thinking when they thought up a jingle that asks kids to “get up and be a player.” It just seems like a double entendre that I would find a little too risqué for any kids stuff that I’d be making.
A children's advocacy group wants the Department of Health and Human Services to oust Shrek, the animated ogre, from his role as spokesman for an anti-obesity drive.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood says the soon-to-open "Shrek the Third" has too many promotional ties with unhealthy foods to justify using Shrek as a health advocate.
They’re actually right here, you know. I actually remember not too long ago when Shrek 2 was being advertised for with the worst possible junk food tie-ins imaginable. Not just because of the junk food itself, but because the campaigns seemed just plain nasty. I remember going to Baskin and Robbins and seeing a standup poster with Shrek, Donkey and Puss’n Boots posing like they were in a threesome behind a giant ice cream shake. I also remember the Twinkies ad with Shrek and a green goo-filled Twinkie positioned over what would have been his crotch (had his image not been cropped) with the slogan “Where’s the Ogre Filling?” All this could just be my dirty mind at work, but hey. Advertisers know that this kind of subliminal advertising is worth a shot. Why would they not try it for children’s ads?
So now that brings us to 2007 when Shrek the Third is about to be released. And thanks to this link from the article, you can see what’s probably only a handful of the products that the movie is being advertised with. And so far, I see no foreplay in these promos, but it’s junk food nonetheless:
http://www.kelloggs.com/promotions/shrek_the_third/
"There is an inherent conflict of interest between marketing junk food and promoting public health," Susan Linn, the group's director, wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt.
"Surely Health and Human Services can find a better spokesperson for healthy living than a character who is a walking advertisement for McDonald's, sugary cereals, cookies and candy," said Linn, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
HHS spokesman Bill Hall said the department had no intention of halting the public service ads, which were launched in February.
The ad campaign — which seeks to curtail childhood obesity — is a joint project of HHS, the Ad Council's Coalition for Healthy Children and DreamWorks Animation SKG, creator of the three Shrek movies. It features ads in which Shrek, a stout and often clumsy ogre, and his fellow characters urge children to exercise at least an hour a day.
"Shrek is a very well known character in the target population of this campaign," Hall said. "We have always promoted a balanced, healthy diet, which does not necessarily exclude the occasional treat."
Now that you’re all probably wondering what these exercise ads really look like, you’ll probably want to sit through four hours of Ed, Edd and Eddy on Cartoon Network just to see if they’ll advertise for it in the breaks, but since I’d rather not let you put yourself through that torture, here’s the ad on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-zEDbl04NY
It actually seems that Donkey is more the one advertising here, but Shrek’s got his bit in there as well. I’d say these guys are within their rights to request that Shrek be removed from these ads. But other than the already mentioned complaints, I’d have to wonder what the advertisers were thinking when they thought up a jingle that asks kids to “get up and be a player.” It just seems like a double entendre that I would find a little too risqué for any kids stuff that I’d be making.
posted by Jaimetud at 12:12 AM
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