Sunday, August 15, 2010

Advertising Has Us All Fooled - Seriously!

This is nothing new to me.  I don't know how they get away with it, but I know all the ploys and tactics that companies use to advertise.

My son on the other hand doesn't understand.  In his seven year old mind, what advertisers say is truth.  I fear that some day he will be in debt to every infomercial known to man just because he believes that they tell him, no matter how crazy it sounds or looks in our adult mind.

His newest obsession, thanks to my dear mother-in-law, {wink-wink} is Nutella.  She bought it for him one day and he wants it all the time now.


He asked me today if he could have some on bread.  {{yuck}}  I told him that he needed to have a snack that was a little healthier.  To me, spreading Nutella on bread is like spreading chocolate in bread.  Not very good for you!

James said, "But the commercial says it's good for you".  The commercial even touts that a healthy alternative to breakfast is Nutella on whole grain bread and a glass of milk or orange juice.  I hardly think that having Nutella for breakfast is a healthy alternative to other things.  I'm half tempted to believe that all of the sugar laden cereals, waffles covered in syrup, oatmeal doused in sugar is a lot better than "chocolate" on bread.

It's all sugar I know, but I'm just saying, I don't agree with it. 

Wikipedia even states "According to the product label, the main ingredients of Nutella are sugar and vegetable oils, followed by hazelnut, cocoa solids and skimmed milk, which together comprise at most 29% of the ingredients.  About half of the calories in Nutella come from fat (11 g in a 37 g serving) and about 40% of the calories come from sugar (20 g)."

So if the hazelnut, cocoa solids, and skimmed milk comprise at most 29% of the ingredients then that means that the sugar and vegetable oils comprise 71%.

If that doesn't make you cringe, I don't know what will. 

So my advice; eat Nutella if you want, but IT IS NOT HEALTHY.  I don't care what anyone says.  As us women like to say, "in through your lips, straight to your hips". 

Having said that, James will not be replacing ANY of his breakfasts with Nutella as a healthy alternative.  End of story!


5 comments:

Patricia said...

Way to stick to your guns mom!

Debby said...

Thanks for the information on
Nutella. My daughter uses it for her daughter all the time. SHe has what they call chocolate banana sandwiches. Yuck, I know. My daughter only buys organic and is picky about what she eats and her daughter.
At the same time, it seems like she gravitates to sweet things for her daughter. Good luck.

shortmama said...

Yep just a big ol container of sugar!

Kelly said...

When I was a kid growing up in Germany, this was an after school snack that my mother gave me, only once in a great while--she would spread Nutella on Brotchen (a type of german hard roll)...until just recently, I've never seen nutella advertised.

I try to stear clear of the stuff as it is just one of those foods you can't be 'good' with.

Luckily my daughter doesn't care for it as she doesn't care for chocolate--I've tried it as an after school 'treat'...We do however do peanut butter on banana or even celery...

I think it is so very sad that they even advertise it as a breakfast food.

Any sugary food should be eaten in moderation and used sparingly...Good job on the research :-D

Kenzie said...

I hate commercials! My 3 year old is always telling me we need to get "this" because it is the neatest thing ever and when I ask her what she is talking about she always tells me she saw it on TV!