I love how the woman in the first one looks dumbfounded and can't offer any possible comeback against the woman who is pouring red-colored, 0% fruit juice, corn syrup water for a bunch kids.

These are so frustrating to watch because they are so, so fake. Anyone who takes the time to find out that high-fructose corn syrup is "ok in moderation" would presumably also take time to read ingredient labels and realize HFCS is in everything and therefore hard to consume in moderation.

well here's the answer those two clueless mush-for-brains should have given

"Yep its made from corn, has the same calories as sugar ....but .... a growing number of researchers are beginning to think high-fructose corn syrup is a constant dietary companion we’d be better off without. In fact, a trail of medical studies dating back a quarter of a century points to the negative health effects of fructose. High fructose consumption has been fingered as a causative factor in heart disease. It raises blood levels of cholesterol and, worse, of triglycerides. It makes blood cells more prone to clotting, and it can accelerate the aging process. The trouble may lie with the particular form fructose assumes in corn syrup. While naturally occurring sugars, as well as the sucrose we spoon into our coffee, contain fructose bound to other sugars, high-fructose corn syrup contains a good deal of “free” or unbound fructose. And it may be this free fructose that interferes with the heart’s use of key minerals, like magnesium, copper and chromium.

Fructose and other sugars contribute to heart disease in yet another way. Dietary sugars increase what doctors call “spontaneous platelet aggregation”, an unnatural tendency toward blood clotting. But according to a study published in the August 1, 1990, issue of Thrombosis Research, fructose promotes abnormal clotting much more than does any other common sugars. and finally it's also commercially viable (cheaper than sugar) only because of ag subsidies for corn farmers, without the subsidies nobady would use it.

and that's why I choose natural sugar in my foods but its getting harder and harder to do ...so stick that popsicle in YOUR mouth, I'll pass

I saw these in North Carolina when I was visiting & was like WOAH.

This just frustrates me. We already have enough anti-intellectualism, without this adding to the mix. But I really don't feel sorry for people who don't do their own research, but rather take a paid advertisement at face value.

As far as the HFCS goes, too much of ANYTHING is harmful, even water (8 glasses a day, my @$$). I do wish there was an alternative, but money speaks volumes louder to producers than public opinion, and the demand for non-HFCS options just isn't great enough.

I was going to post about documented negative effects of HFCS, but it seems like geezer's beaten me to it. However, this does speak to yet another (imo) dangerous metanarrative that was (somewhat) recently raised over on Scienceblogs:

http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2008/07/the_innumeracy_of_intellectual.php

If university intellectuals are allowed innumeracy (and factual bases for argument), then why should the average joe/jane care about it either?

Finally, and although it's also tangential (since I was mainly wanting to say what geezer already said), the cumulative impacts of corn-farming genetically modified, oil-intensive, water-starved, monocultures of corn are never considered socially in these United States. It makes the statement - from my local Espresso Royale cafe - touting their corn-based cups free of petroleum products quite as laughable as the contention raised by the sponsors of this commercial.

Next we'll get a puff piece about the wonders of MSG and aspartame.

I think the caveat they added at the end of their gushing praise, "... and like sugar it's fine in moderation," is rather telling. Nobody says "fruit and vegetables are fine... in moderation."

If the best thing they can come up with to say about corn syrup is that it's like sugar, well then it must not be very good stuff since refined sugar is pretty nasty too. I'd almost bet that if refined sugar had been developed 10 years ago it would be a felony to possess. Sugar is to sugarcane what cocaine is to coca (or HFCS is to corn); and sure, cocaine is really bad for us, but at least it doesn't compose half of most kids' diet!

And by the way, what exactly do they mean by "moderation?"

As Editor-in-chief over at awfulcommercials.com said,

"Seems like there’s another issue I forgot about. Oh right, corn is disproportionately subsidized by the U.S. government. And instead of being sold in semi-healthy cob form, it’s turned into magical diabetes juice, and injected into everything we eat and drink."

http://www.awfulcommercials.com/archives/2008/09/15/delicious-freedom-syrup/

I also like how people who care about their health are automatically arrogant jerks. "Wow, you don't care what the kids eat, do you?"

(Extra credit: compare to anti-smoking commercials, in which children's health is considered important and worth protecting)

There is at least one more in this series of commercials, which shows an older brother giving the same speech to his younger brother about to dig into a big bowl o' sugary cereal.

I think it is interesting that the "reassuring" information about HFCS does not come from a spokesperson for the industry. It's just regular people saying what they (think they) know. Why wouldn't the industry want "experts" (or actors playing experts) to convey the information, like other ads concerned with health information? Is it because they don't have much factual footing to stand on? Or because they know real people are more likely to turn to their peers than to their doctors for health and diet information? In any case, you could also use these ads in teaching a lesson about public trust in experts.

Abby: it's a propaganda technique. The ad with the two women in particular is rift with emotional plays, not facts. There is a white woman not only being elitist but being a "bitch" in how she presents: smugly elitist, and really kind of attacking the other woman, who is black, calm, well presented, and acts with the assurance of someone who knows something you don't.

There are no facts presented because they're banking on the idea that people will react to the emotions invoked by the ad rather than do their own research. Because if anyone does their own research, they're screwed. And the problems with HFCS are too well known for them to be able to get "an expert" in the ad without someone calling "BS".

Personally, what got me was that they were running these ads at all. High fructose corn syrup is in *everything*, why would they need to promote it? So I've started reading labels on the usual suspects like baked goods (it gives a longer shelf life), and, of course candy. Halloween candy is starting to appear again, and I've discovered that HFCS isn't one of the first three ingredients in some of them now. I need to look more to confirm this is true, but it's starting to look like major manufacturers may be trying to phase the stuff out. Hallelujah!

VSC: Ethanol is screwing up the corn industry, and agriculture in general. The apparently unintended consequence of corn prices shooting through the roof (and more acreage being used for now-profitable corn at the expense of other crops ends up raising prices for all grains) has been a slowdown in the expansion of ethanol, which is good. Still, ethanol is an ongoing taxpayer-subsidized disaster, and one effect it's had has been a big jump in the cost of HFCS, so it's not the super cheap 'magical diabetes juice' (I like that one!) that it once was.

The economic problems with corn combined with an increasing awareness of personal health and proper nutrition leaves us with an industry getting worried that it's gravy train might be about to derail; time to unleash the propaganda machine! If they're doing stuff like this, then it's time to start looking for 'news' articles about the dangers of organic foods; I bet we'll see those start popping up soon, and they'll be very scientific-sounding.

I know that it's a little later, but check out this reason, too:

http://www.physorg.com/news143350658.html