One recent study found that kids thought food tasted better if it had “Shrek,” “Scooby Doo” or “Dora the Explorer” on the package. My reaction? Why not use cartoon characters to promote fruits and veggies? Clearly, someone else had this brilliant idea because “Shrek” is now helping to promote Vidalia onions.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the campaign, “Shrek Forever After, Vidalias Forever Sweet,” was unveiled this spring, timed to the release of the animated film and the beginning of the Vidalia season, which lasts through September. Vidalia is using the movie’s characters on packaging, store displays and on a website. The Vidalia website even features “Shrek” themed recipes, including “Swamp Onion Soup” and “Happily Ever After Onion Cake.”

Apparently, the strategy is working. Through mid-June, onion farmers had shipped eight million more pounds of Vidalias than by the same date last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture said — even though the 2010 season started two weeks later than in 2009.

“There was a natural connection between their brand and our character, since onions were rooted in Shrek’s personality from the first movie,” says Anne Globe, head of world-wide marketing at DreamWorks Animation, which produced the “Shrek” series.

Globe is referring to the scene in which Shrek compares ogres to onions saying “we both have layers.” Continue reading »

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Ever wonder what would happen if your diet consisted of all of the foods you see advertised on TV?

The short answer is: you’d be really unhealthy.

And for the long answer, you’re in luck –  a new report published this month in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association addresses this very question.

If you ate only foods you saw in TV commercials, you would consume 25 times the recommended amount of sugar and 20 times the amount of fat, but less than half the dairy, fiber and fruits and vegetables, according to The New York Times. Continue reading »

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You can’t always believe what you read — especially if you’re reading the back of a cereal box.

In other words, Rice Krispies won’t boost your immunity and Frosted Mini-Wheats won’t make your kid more attentive (if only!).

The Kellogg Company has agreed to new advertising restrictions which will prohibit them from making such dubious claims, the Federal Trade Commission announced today.

Last year, the FTC investigated and then took action against the Kellogg Company for claiming that its Frosted Mini- Wheats cereal was “clinically shown to improve kids’ attentiveness by nearly 20% ” when that wasn’t the case.

The FTC has expanded its settlement order against Kellogg to include the latest health claim that Rice Krispies boosts children’s  immunity. Continue reading »

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Some vocal critics think it’s time for Ronald McDonald to retire, but McDonald’s says he’s sticking around.

Calling the red-haired clown ”a force for good,” McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner told shareholders on Thursday that the mascot “does not hawk food,” according to The Chicago Tribune.

In March, Corporate Accountability International, a corporate watchdog group, began a campaign to eliminate Ronald as part of efforts to curtail marketing unhealthy foods to kids.

The group has set up a “Retire Ronald” web site which points out that ”since the inception of Ronald McDonald, obesity rates have more than tripled among American children and the prevalence of diet-related conditions like type 2 diabetes has skyrocketed.” Continue reading »

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If you’ve got kids, and those kids eat anything you can purchase in a grocery store, you are well-versed in the amount of food marketing that gets aimed at children. Whether it’s natural-crunchy-organic stuff emblazoned with pretty pastoral scenes or the screaming neon corn-based junk at your more traditional stores, companies spend big bucks marketing to children. Food companies spent $1.6 billion on marketing to kids in 2006, while fast food restaurants sold more than 1.2 billion kids’ meals with toys. People form their brand loyalties and food preferences very early in childhood, so getting them as customers as children is key. Continue reading »

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Companies are increasingly reaching out to parenting bloggers instead of more traditional channels to market their products. If you’ve got a blog that more than three people read, you’ve probably gotten offers for free stuff to review.

This article details the gifts, trips and free products that companies lavish on some bloggers. I was at an event Continue reading »

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There has been a  lot news from the cereal aisle in the last few weeks.  First, we learned that some of our favorite breakfast cereals are totally lacking in nutrition.  Then, we found out that Froot Loops and other cereals claiming to be a “Smart Choice” are no such thing.  And now, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies and Cocoa Krispies are being taken down a notch with the food company agreeing to remove the banner from their boxes that claim the cereals help boost immunity. Continue reading »

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