These folks are serious, and they're dangerous. See the Huffington Post article about this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elissa-altman/a-white-knight-talking-ba_b_125831.html

There was an almost immediate response by the Corn Refiner's Association.

First of all, I laughed really hard when I saw this commercial for the first time. What a trip!

Second of all, Michael Pollan pretty much sums it up by writing something like:

"You will only find corn syrup in foods that have been processed."

Processed foods with hfcs have little nutritional value.

Popsicles? How stupid do they think people are?

Would that be kind of like the tobacco industry saying that tobacco is a natural crop full of essential amino acids but ignoring or purposely not mentioning that when tobacco is dried and rolled into a cigarette and smoked could lead to lung cancer or emphysema or throat cancer?

I guess that's a little off because corn syrup actually doesn't have any nutritional value.

What's next? Guar gum? Bht?

I saw this commercial over the weekend and I wasn't exactly shocked, but I was a bit depressed. Not too much, because I get a little more immune each time humanity does something disappointing and sad.

In the meantime, I'm waiting for the high fructose corn syrup cigarette. Get those 2 industries together and the commercials would be PRICELESS.

I saw this and wanted to scream at my tv. Then I looked at husband and said "If we start seeing pro-PVC commercials we're moving to Vancouver."

Ironically, these started airing two days after I finally finished reading THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA.

These commercials are so McCain/Palin era. I guess the thinking is that if you just keep repeating a lie often enough (and simply ignoring confrontation to the contrary), people will believe it. They might be right about that.

my husband and i have been making fun of the popsicle ad since we first saw it. on the one hand it totally blows my mind that that ad is out there. on the other hand it is sadly not surprising at all...

www.threadtrace.wordpress.com

I don't find it surprising, but I have also found the rhetoric around HFCS a little weird. It's not good for you, but neither is white sugar. Why one would be worse than another has always baffled me. Rather than "I don't eat HFCS", a better rule would seem to be "I don't eat processed foods."

As for me...I eat everything in moderation, including HFCS.

At first I thought it was an SNL gag, right down to the Corn Refiners Association tag. Then it was all too real...

50 years from now people will look back on these "retro" ads and laugh at us. hard.

The commercial bugs me because of the truth of it. A lot of people have heard that HFCS is bad, but they don't know why. Ads like this will either spur them to find out why, or make them think that criticism it's received in the past was just exaggerated. If people who don't have the luxury of unprocessed healthy foods are fooled into thinking HFCS is all right, then they might be less likely to stay away from products containing it, and since the stuff is everywhere, they might easily lose track of how much of it they're actually consuming. Then you've got supposed moderated HFCS intake on top of supposed moderated refined sugar intake, it all just piles up on top. Time to shaddap--I just started my nutrition class, and I've been inundated with data on nutrition and chronic diseases affected by it; it's disturbing and depressing.

My goodness! So, I guess these are real commercials. I was hoping they were skits from comedy central, or something. For me, this affirms my food rules #1 and #4. "Never tell people they are eating the wrong thing," and "Know why you eat the foods you do."

It amazes me that in this information age, seeking knowledge and critical thinking are so unpopular. I hope the advertising genius who conceived of this campaign dies a little bit inside every time it airs.

It's the "in processed foods" thing that I think is really overlooked in the ads. Sure, hfcs isn't so different from white sugar, you should use both in moderation, but hfcs are in so many foods that to use it in moderation for most people is really difficult. Most packaged bread products, for instance, have hfcs to preserve them and give that nice browned color on the crust. Hfcs are pretty sneaky.

HFCS may have the same amount of calories as regular sugar, but it is absorbed into the body in a way that makes us get fatter much more easily, some say twice as fat. Sorry, I don't have the scientific explanation at hand or I would explain that better. I think I got that from Michael Polland. If not, someone like him.

It was introduced on the American market in the early 80s - that's the same time frame the obesity rate began to skyrocket. Although you have to factor in more television and video game consumption (another major problem) as well, nutritional experts don't think it's a coincidence.

I find my life is much better if I stay away from processed foods as much as I can - I can't eat gluten and I have much better control this way. And it keeps me from getting slipped things like HFCS if I should be so ignorant as not to read the label.

I think these ads are awful, manipulative and evil. The actors mumble "in moderation" so you barely catch it and then neglect to mention that high fructose corn syrup is in pretty much everything these days so that "moderation" is highly unlikely if you're not paying attention. High fructose corn syrup is why the majority of Americans are obese. Ugh.

I cut HFCS out of my diet and, with no other changes at all, lost 10 pounds in one week.

It's stayed off.

I'd say they're right to be scared but barking mad if they think intelligent people will fall for this garbage.

raven- I love your food rules #1 and #4! I'm very curious to know what the two in between are...
Will you share? I think I want to adopt them too.

funny commercials...and depressing.

These commercials drive me nuts! I don't own a TV. I actually heard about them on another forum and saw them on the website. These commercials are misleading and from an artistic point of view ridiculously cheesy. How could anyone really take them seriously?

HFCS may have a similar calorie load as sugar, but they are not equal! HFCS is processed by your liver and doesn't cause an insulin response. Because of this the leptin levels in your body do not rise. Leptin is the hormone that makes your body realize it's full. So, in can lead to overeating. Excess consumption can also lead to copper deficiency, which is rampant in the US. Sugar is bad for it's own reasons, but it's not the same.

It does make me wonder though... how hard is their bottom line being hit if they feel the need to advertise in this way? I hope the American public educate themselves and don't blindly believe everything they see on TV.

Raven - Yea would love to hear all the food rules, #1 and #4 sound really good.

EmmieB - I totally agree.

I laughed when I first saw these ads, then I got worried, because I realized not everyone knows about the dangers of eating HFCS...if they even know that they ARE eating them. So this ad will cause lots of confusion. It bothers me that an ad like this is allowed to be put out...but I'm not surprised.

We are in an information age, but the things people look up on google isn't about HFCS, it's about Palin's daughter's baby, or Britney's Sister's baby. Who cares.

Maybe this is all a big scam to keep the health department/industry in business...if people start living better/healthier than the industry would suffer after everyone starts catching on.

I think that it might backfire by causing people to google high fructose corn syrup, hopefully avoiding the Corn Refiner's Association.
This seems similar to the American Dairy Council and their milk-pushing. Me incredibly lactose intolerant, I was pretty outraged in my graduate level nutrition class that pushed the consumption of milk and dairy products at every turn and stating the consumption of dairy products as the ONLY source of calcium in the daily diet.

These ads are going to be very effective, especially in an election year. Is information about HFCS readily available? Yes. Will the masses review it? Probably not. My guess is the general perception will be that the ads MUST be true since lies wouldn't be allowed to be broadcast on national television, right? This is why politicians can lie and distort the facts and smear each other and get away with it - because even though people say they think its all lies, deep down a strong part of them believe what they're told because on some level the information sounds plausible.

My guess is the next wave of pro-HFCS propaganda will link the anti HFCS movement to liberals and/or make it seem like an unpatriotic attempt to destroy the lives of corn farmers.

these are running the bay area, and being in the advertising world I found them to be very amusing and clever. I agree w/ them that the scare to get off of hfcs was quick and perhaps not well thought out by most consumers, but it still is something you should avoid. the corn refiners assoc is playing the consumer as a fool. they are taking on the assumption that the consumer is unaware of why hfcs is negative to your health, it's almost condescending. I laughed when the woman w/ the jug of questionable content defended the hfcs, as if high fructose corn syrup is the only thing that she should be concerned about in that product. lady there are worse things in that cool-aid than that!

2 comments -

#1 - HFCS are *not just* in junk food, and are worst in liquid form - check the labels on your jelly/jam, and on your salad dressing (or make your own) - even the healthiest, greenest diets find these condiments to be fairly essential, and even the boutique, expensive dressings usually contain HFCS

#2 - the YouTube comments section regarding these commercials are incredibly unanimous in condemning HFCS - Thank Heavens! - given that I have seen YouTube users politicize, argue over, and condemn every subject from renewable energy to curing cancer - it is heartening to see that so many average Americans are knowledgeable and will not be swayed by the agri-corporate hogwash.

I'm confused. The only topic I've heard about corn is that there's a growing (sorry, pun) scarcity for farm animal and human consumption as crops are predominantly dedicated for biofuel. Did I miss a step? The corn farmers are FINE... making $$$ hand-over-fist.

So WHY are they running the ads?