Whopper Virgins: it doesn't get much more offensive than this

[Truth2Tell]

All I can say is O.M.F.G.

http://www.inquisitr.com/10231/whopper-virgins-it-doesnt-get-much-more-offensive-than-this/

Burger King will debut a new “documentary” later this week called Whopper Virgins, where a documentary crew takes Whopper Hamburgers to obscure locations for a taste test.

The “documentary” is being filmed by the now officially the mother of all sellouts “award winning director” Stacy Peralta and includes the use of “13 planes, 2 dog sleds and 1 helicopter.”

If visiting poor people in remote locations, some who would be at best surviving on below poverty levels and throwing a burger in their faces isn’t bad enough, it gets better, because they also ask the Whopper Virgins to compare the taste of the Whopper to a McDonalds Big Mac as well.

It’s hard to place exactly where this begins on the level of wrongness. The pipe flute South American music on the website, the pictures of people with horse and carts on one side, and on the other someone eating a Whopper. Hey, but that’s ok, because the testing was “done by independent 3rd party testers.” I think I’m going to throw up now.

Here's the Burger King site, if you can stomach it:

http://www.whoppervirgins.com/

[Drunken Irishman]

1. I know!

Who would EVER want to eat a Whopper?

Ugh.

[Winnipegosis]

4. I haven't had a Whopper in many a year.

I prefer Big Macs: although it's been a while since I've had one of those, too...

Hmmmm....

[Bucky]

5. You can become a 'born-again' whopper virgin

Praise the Lord!
                         

[Winnipegosis]

7. How much are they?

I might go for a two-for-one.

[SidDithers]

50. That King is just creepy, isn't he?...

Sid

[Liberal_in_LA]

71. Really creepy!

[FormerDittoHead]

110. THAT'S *NOTHING* COMPARED TO SKITTLES...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsEYqFQZoQA

[EnviroBat]

114. Oh dear God no...

I threw up a little...

[Z_I_Peevey]

117. What the hell was that?

That's beyond disgusting. I may never eat another Skittle, and I love Skittles!

[zeos3]

98. Why did Dairy Queen get pregnant?

Because Burger King forgot to wrap his Whopper!

(I totally RULED in jr high!)

:beer:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

109. Did you hear they found the beef?

It was between Wendy's buns.

[FormerDittoHead]

111. I was in Junior High too. What do you do when your wife won't cook dinner? Whopper. n/t

[colinmom71]

99. Well, I'd never had a Whopper until I was pregnant....

And suddenly, a Whopper was just THE most important thing I could possibly have for a meal/snack/whatever. I went for about 2.5 months totally CRAVING a Whopper with lots of veggies the moment I saw a Burger King sign where-ever and when-ever we were during the few months of pregnancy I had. I haven't really cared about Burger King (except for their Italian Chicken sandwich on occasion) past that time...

Now, a "Five Guys" burger and fries is quite another matter altogether these days... ;-)

[Recursion]

2. BK has great ads, this will probably be another one

I'm missing the offensiveness here. It's spectacular (in the pejorative sense), sure, but how does this offend you?

[Truth2Tell]

8. I guess if you have no problem with Burger King

to begin with then I can see how this would be just fine with you. I happen to think their food is poisonous garbage, their labor practices are immoral, their environmental record is abysmal and their international business practices corrupt. But that's just my humble opinion. I think they represent the very worst of American "civilization" in every way imaginable. But mostly my objection is to the poisonous garbage part.

I think it would be less offensive to fly to these places and show the natives Sarah Palin porn from Hustler.

[Recursion]

10. I hate all businesses too

Because they're all that bad. Really. If you don't get that you aren't paying attention. So are the "pristine" cultures they're recording. People suck and are evil and always steal from their neighbors.

I just don't get why you singled out this ad.

[Truth2Tell]

13. I don't agree with your view of people,

or of "all businesses," or of indigenous cultures (although they are often over-glorified).

So maybe our difference of outlook on those issues explains why you don't get (or, more likely, just don't agree with) my OP.

[greyl]

18. In the spirit of your thread,

I saw this concept on a bumper sticker using the old logo, and just updated it:

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Wait.. what was that about Sarah Palin porn?

Go back.

[DonEBrook]

46. Why do you call them 'poisonous garbage'? That's just silly.

:eyes:
Bread and meat...good grief

[otohara]

64. Obesity, Diabetes, Pollution, Toxic

global warming.
Connect the dots.
BK and the rest of them, is sadly more than just bread and meat.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

66. You could make the same argument about any other bread or meat.

:shrug:

[otohara]

67. Cheap BK Burger vs Homemade Burger

If you care about your health, the health of your children and the health of all Americans, then you can made a better decision on that occasional burger. Some burgers are healthier than others.

Big agriculture is feeding fast food orders first and foremost. They destroy the planet to keep up with the demand of this cheap shit.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

70. Why would you think the homemade burgers are any better?

Do they cause obesity? Sure. Diabetes? Just as much as the BK burgers. Global warming? Yup.

[otohara]

72. Chose Healthier Ingredients

just switching the lettuce from iceberg to romaine is a start...
wheat bun...
lean meat...
big slice of tomato...
mustard only - because ketchup has corn syrup - yuck...

okay, i'm not going to say this again - fast food is the main cause of all sorts of bad shit. if people made their own god damn burgers vs driving up shelling out $1.00 for a ball of cheap toxic crappy food, the world would be a better place.:mad:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

80. Well, you could do that.

But then you'd have a burger that tasted like shit.

:shrug:

[DonEBrook]

88. Apparently there are wannabe martyrs who thrive on that sort of cuisine.

:scared: :shrug: :eyes:

[otohara]

91. Yep

it's all about martyrdom.

Health, who needs it?

[RedCappedBandit]

93. That's what you get at BK

:shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

100. Nope.

Whoppers are better tasting burgers than romaine lettuce burgers with no ketchup on wheat buns.

[RedCappedBandit]

101. Whoppers make me want to puke

On the other hand, I actually like a good burger on wheat without ketchup. I think ketchup masks the taste of the meat, and I love wheat bread. And iceberg lettuce is worthless. :)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

103. Maybe you.

Maybe.

But in taste tests, whoppers would beat that crap hands down.

Hence the advertising campaign.

[RedCappedBandit]

116. I don't claim to be normal by any means

:P

But that doesn't invalidate my opinion. Aside from that, I would be surprised if people who have never been exposed to the type of food served in places like BK didn't get sick after trying it for the first time.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

127. Why?

Why would that happen?

[RedCappedBandit]

136. Personal experience tells me so

The food makes me sick. It also makes my friends, who refrain from eating fast food, sick. Those friends who do eat fast food occasionally, however, do not get sick. Additionally, when I did eat fast food from time to time, I did not get sick. Only when my body is not used to it does it happen. :shrug: Not scientific, obviously, but I have heard similar experiences from others.

[antigone382]

104. Are you serious???

a fresh, home-grilled, skillfully seasoned burger with real, flavorful veggies on it tastes like shit compared to a pre-heated greasy slab of pretend-meat slapped on a soggy bun from burger king???

WTF

I love burgers but the fast food kind make me gag. I'm not saying don't eat them...to each their own, but in my opinion they're completely disgusting and inedible.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

106. If you make a homemade burger properly, it'll taste better than fast food.

If you make a "healthy" burger, it'll taste like shit compared to fast food.

[antigone382]

107. Well, if that's what you want to believe...

But every meal I've had made of real, homegrown food with some nutritional content was a thousand times more flavorful than any fastfood shit I've ever tasted.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

108. There's a reason successful business sell unhealthy food.

But if you want to believe otherwise, be my guest.

[antigone382]

119. Because it is cheap and easy to mass-produce.

And you can pay someone with no culinary experience minimum wage to prepare and sell it.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

126. And because people buy it because it tastes better.

Same thing goes for fancy restaurants with expensive ingredients.

[RedCappedBandit]

139. I'm with you

We might be a rarity (not so sure I believe this to be the case) but I enjoy fresh, healthy food I can make in my own kitchen far more than any of the crap fast food joints come up with.

[deaniac21]

133. Funniest reply I've seen today!

:spray:

[Rebubula]

83. Boring life...

...Life is a short warm moment...death is a long cold rest

Go ahead...enjoy the burger, eat it with a milkshake and French Fries cooked in lard. Lie around and eat the Bon-bons and watch Oprah if that is what you like.

Seriously...some folks just TRY to make life more miserable that it should be.

Death is almost here...better get healthy!

[RedCappedBandit]

94. Eating one of those burgers

would make me far more miserable than not, that's for sure.

Being healthy and in shape is actually enjoyable; you should try it.

[Regret My New Name]

115. You can still be healthy and in shape while having the occasional fast food junk...

[RedCappedBandit]

138. Yes, once in a blue moon is fine

;)

The same can be said for anything.

[madmom]

142. See my sig line : )

[DonEBrook]

87. glurk

What scares the shit outta me is that I actually think you are serious.

[otohara]

97. Go Away

stick your head in the sand on some other site more suited to your way of thinking.

[timtom]

146. Or, as I like to think of it

really BAD bread and meat-like byproducts.

[Crunchy Frog]

22. "To boldly clog arteries that no one has clogged before..."

Yeah, real classy. :eyes:

[treestar]

49. They do have salads

All of the fast food places do - they pretty much have to, given the weigh consciousness of society - there are people who'd never go there otherwise.

[Crunchy Frog]

68. So they're going to be introducing these pristine regions to salads

rather than Whoppers as the ads suggest? That's not the impression that I got.

[soothsayer]

23. i was the burger king king for haloween. That costume scared EVERYONE!

i love that creepy king.

[Warren DeMontague]

27. I was seriously ready to combine it with Jesus

but I thought the neighbors might not be ready.

[FormerDittoHead]

112. Truly inspired. n/t

[Alter Ego]

44. Plus, they yanked their advertising from Sinclair Broadcasting

back in 2004 when Sinclair agreed to air that anti-Kerry Smear Boat Liars "documentary".

[w4rma]

3. I think that is pretty good marketing technique and I don't see anything unethical about it. (nt)

[greyl]

14. Some weirdos are offended by dishonest marketing, I guess. nt

[w4rma]

37. Where is the dishonesty in this marketing? (nt)

[greyl]

6. Yeah, why put up with the trouncing by asking a connoisseur when you can be dishonest? nt

[EOTE]

56. Ummm, what's dishonest?

And asking a connoisseur to compare Burger King and McDonald's is a bit of a stretch. I'd take the Whopper any day. Not a big fan of the Big Mac's gray, flavorless beef and excess bread.

[Muttocracy]

9. will they also be asking feedlot virgins to compare manure smells?

:shrug:

[Poll_Blind]

11. DISEASED AND FAT: The fast-food crusade (is coming to YOUR village!)

PB

[petronius]

12. Do they actually go visit people wo are barely squeaking by and taunt them with food,

or is it just the writer's opinion that people outside the US must be poor and starving?

There's nothing about this campaign that would inspire me to buy a whopper, but I'm not seeing the offensiveness. Going to a distant location, an Inuit village for example, and asking for opinions on a sample of 'American' food is not morally or ethically different from those same Inuit knocking on my door and asking me to taste test some walrus steaks. And I'd think that was a pretty amusing thing...

[Radical Activist]

15. Will it come wrapped in a blanket infected with small pox?

If there's an area lucky enough to not be poisoning everyone with fast food then let them stay that way.

[Quantess]

16. amusing thread.

:popcorn:

[Morning Dew]

17. If they've never had a Whopper or a Big Mac,

If fast food isn't part of their life,


There will probably be lots of scrunchy faces and maybe some vomiting.

[meowomon]

19. That is really poor taste

I like Wendy's anyway.

[Crunchy Frog]

20. After reading this, I'm likely to become a Whopper celibate.

:puke:

[Swamp Rat]

21. bleh!

:puke:

[soothsayer]

24. I don't get your beef with this, so to speak

[Warren DeMontague]

25. So, wait.. people are fucking hamburgers, now?

See... let teh Gays git married, and you knew this would happen, didn't ya?

[Z_I_Peevey]

118. Somewhere. Yeah, probably. n/t

[regnaD kciN]

28. I wonder how honest the translation will be...

...I can imagine some reactions being along the lines of "What is this piece of crap? It sure isn't real food!"

:evilgrin:

[Enthusiast]

29. Burger King, distinctly inferior to The Olive Garden. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

30. If I was going to eat a burger, it would be an In & Out.

And, yeah, that company is run by folks with religious right views, AFAIK.

Nevertheless, even though it's been a decade or so since I've had any red meat at all, those are some tasty burgers, Walter.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[deutsey]

39. Obviously the moderator is not a golfer

That deleted post of mine was due, I suppose, to the moderator not getting my reference to The Big Lebowski. It wasn't intended as an attack on you, impeachdubya, if you saw it before it was deleted. I was assuming from your reference to the "In & Out Burger" and "Walter" that you'd take the "shut the fuck up" reference as it was intended: a friendly message from one TBL fan to another.

[Warren DeMontague]

61. No doubt. I missed it, but would have got it.

The Dude Abides. :thumbsup:

[deutsey]

90. What I wrote in the subjectline was:

Shut the fuck up, impeachdubya.

Then I put an :evilgrin: in the message and encouraged you to checkout The Dudespaper (see my sigline).

[slackmaster]

82. Those are good burgers

[Javaman]

54. man, you had to go and say In n' Out didn't you?

now my mouth is watering and the nearest In n' Out is 1500 miles away!!!

damn you!! damn you and the tasty goodness of a double double with cheese and fried onions along with fresh cut fries and a thick thick vanilla milk shake...

damn you... :cry:

[Radical Activist]

78. I heard they have good business practices

with how they treat their employees and so on compared to other fast food chains. I didn't know they were right wingers. The name is still funny as hell.

[Warren DeMontague]

85. Yeah, particularly if you cut the "B" and "R" off the bumper sticker--

leaving "In & Out Urge".

That one was popular, back when I was in college.

[Swamp Rat]

31. Not by much.

:yoiks:

[Radical Activist]

75. No way.

At least Burger King doesn't pretend to be real food.

[David in Canada]

32. I like BK...

I eat at BK between two and four times per week.

[MichellesBFF]

34. If you're gonna eat a burger...

...eat one of these!
http://www.dartagnan.com/item.asp?item=ZBWGR001

Kobe-style Wagyu beef burgers. The only way to splurge...Unfortunately the market where I used to get these no longer carries them, so I'm going to have to order some online.

[Enthusiast]

84. No. If your gonna eat a real burger

it has to be made from ground venison and grilled over charcoal on my grill. :headbang:

My favorite commercial burgers are from Steak N' Shake.

[Vinca]

35. Oh, come on. There's a word for crap in every language. nt

[GrpCaptMandrake]

36. Reality has become cartoonish

This is a re-hash of an old, old Pink Panther short.

"Pink Panther Pizza takes pizza to people who've never tasted pizza before!

To the Eskimo . . . <shot of PP flying pizza to the Arctic>

To the Bedouin in the burning sands . . . " <PP delivers a molten pizza which pours out of the box to a guy with a beard and a camel>

I remember when my father would say "Why do you watch those cartoons?!" While I didn't say it, I know now that the answer was "Because, Dad, someday marketing assholes in search of yet another way to make people want garbage they don't need will recycle this cartoon as a way to hustle the same shitty hamburgers that have already destroyed several cuisines to the last cultures on earth they haven't be-fouled."



Get On The H.O.R.N.!
www.headonradionetwork.com
America's Liberal Voice!

[Deja Q]

38. Wow. Wightist AND sexist! I hope those who attacked me yesterday come here with a larger

flamethrower.

Which I somehow doubt... see, we're all equal here, but some are more equal than others. "Animal Farm" is a truism in every facet.

/typicalhypnoriddlespeak

[joe_sixpack]

40. I don't have any problem with Burger King, just this little irony.......

Imagine, we go through all this trouble to get to remote parts of the world to bring them a wonder of an advanced, technological society and what we show up with is a whopper?! I can't help but laugh. How well it worked out last time, when we brought refined sugar and alcohol to primitive societies. Their descendants are still suffering health problems from the introduction.

[RoadRage]

41. Taking a Whopper to a starving village reminds me

of when we took blankets to the Native Americans... that just happened to be covered with the small pox virus.

I don't like the ad idea.. but it will probably work. The "tackiness" of it will probably be lost on BK's core audiance... drunk, hungry 22 year olds. In fact, they might even find it "exotic". :puke:

[AngryAmish]

73. Who is the we that brought smallpox infected blankets?

[apocalypsehow]

128. I have the same question for the poster - I don't remember doing anything of the sort.

:shrug:

[AngryAmish]

132. That is because the only people who did it was one British officer in the French-Indian War

[madokie]

42. Whoppers and virgins in the same sentence

:rofl:

[Truth2Tell]

89. I know. Works wonders.

I posted a Somalia thread at about the same time and this had 10x more views in 1/4th the time.

[undeterred]

43. My first job many years ago was at BK and I haven't eaten there since.

I'm on a lifelong Whopper fast.

[Iggo]

45. Oh, it gets way more offensive than that.

But yeah...that one's cringe-worthy.

[TexasObserver]

47. I eat a Whopper about once a month. They're adequate!

If you want a franchise made burger, they're dependably ordinary. I'll eat one when I'm hungry, there's a Burger King right there, and I don't feel like stopping to get real food.

[Warren DeMontague]

62. Theres your ad campaign, right there.

"Adequate". :rofl:

[TexasObserver]

63. Winner over "not unpleasant."

[blue_onyx]

48. Burger King is one of the fast foods I refuse to eat

I use to get the Whopper occasionally but I noticed it started making me sick every time I ate one. I also didn't really like them much...I just had one when I was with someone else who wanted to have BK. But when I started getting sick from the Whopper, I stopped eating them.

[deaniac21]

134. You are one sharp cookie!

[muriel_volestrangler]

51. For an Australian conservative, Duncan Riley is remarkably easily offended

Born in Sydney, Australia, Riley is a pioneer in Australian politics on the internet, creating the first website for a political party branch in Australia in 1995, and going on later that year to write the now defunct Australian Conservative Politics portal, the first conservative aggregate political site in Australia

http://www.inquisitr.com/about/

Maybe he didn't find the Australian part in the invasion of Iraq 'offensive'. Suddenly he can't think of anything more offensive than a corporate marketing campaign?

Or maybe he's just taking part in the viral marketing effort - any publicity is good publicity?

[Javaman]

52. I wonder how many miles of film had to be cut of people saying...

"they both taste like shit".

[KillCapitalism]

53. Bleh, bring them some real burgers.

Bring some Culver's to 'em, that's good shit!

[EOTE]

57. I miss my butter burgers!!

I used to go to Culver's a few times a month when I lived in Wisconsin. I still get a chance to go when I head back occasionally for vacation, but I haven't seen them outside of the midwest. Not only are their burgers, fries and onion rings great, but their frozen custard is just fantastic. I guess my eyes must become much larger than my stomach when I walk into that place because every time I leave there, I'm incredibly stuffed. Some of the best burgers I've ever had have been from Wisconsin. I saw a documentary on burgers a while back and one of the featured restaurants was "Solly's" in Milwaukee. The last time I visited Wisconsin, I got a butter burger there and it was drool inducing. I'm sure there are lots of people who would have thought it was obscene because it was literally dripping with butter as opposed to the light brushing that butter burgers in Culver's get, but it was honestly one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.

[Shiver]

123. Damn you for mentioning 'burgers' and 'Milwaukee'...

... now I can't get thoughts of a double cheeseburger with fries and a shake from Bella's Fat Cat out of my head...

I miss Solly's too...

[EOTE]

124. Bella's Fat Cat.

I'll have to remember that one for the next time I'm in the area. Another restaurant on the documentary I saw was in Illinois (Chicago I believe) and was the inspiration for that old Saturday Night Live sketch with the order cooks yelling "Cheeburger! Cheeburger! Cheeburger! Chips! Chips! Chips!". I'm going to try and hit that one on the way up to Wisconsin. I have a blast every time I go back.

[Shiver]

125. There are at least...

...three Bella's in the city. The only one I've been to is on Brady Street. Go with an empty stomach - the burgers, even the 'regular' ones, are quite large.

I make it a point to get Bella's every time I visit Milwaukee. I also try to get a burger from Grecian Delight on North St. if I can - not the healthiest, bu their fries are fantastic and the burgers are just too damn tasty.

[rucky]

137. Awwww yeaaaah.

Culver's is the In-n-Out of the Midwest.

[L0oniX]

55. They concurred us with WalMart and we will concurred them with Booger King.

Mass lardocide will do them in.

:evilgrin:

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

58. Burger King's ads play upon their own inflated importance

I think they are mocking themselves, much like the ads where they tell people they are not selling Whoppers anymore, and the people flip out and turn into total scary assholes.

It's much cooler than beer commercials that really act like their beer makes life instantly better. There's a subtle way of playing it, and you either "get it" or you don't, whether you like the product or not.

Personally, the Whopper's quality has dropped in the last fifteen years, I'll take Wendy's now any day.

But, then again, this place is certainly not immune to missing that kind of humor.

[Lars39]

59. That's against the Prime Directive, Jim.

[Freddie Stubbs]

69. Is a pre-warp civilization capable of violating the Prime Directive?

:shrug:

[Lars39]

86. We managed it well before we broke the sound barrier.

[itsrobert]

60. I'm sure BK will make every effort to provide the test group with Freshly made Big Macs

and not use extraordinary care in providing the Whoppers. :sarcasm:

[noonwitch]

65. Mmm, whoppers.

I treat myself to one every 4-6 weeks.

I'm too old to eat them every day, but they are a nice treat.

[azmouse]

74. So why would this make anyone want to eat anything from Burger King?

I don't get it. :shrug:

[Ilsa]

76. Will they precisely interpret the WVs when they ask, "What is this nasty shit?"

I haven't had a whopper in 5 or 6 years. I turned vegetarian 3+ years ago, but gave up whoppers long before that because there were several I had that were awful. Just godawful.

[Cleita]

77. Burger King has been offensive for awhile now with their creepy

commercials, hiring practices and support of right wing politicians. I never ate one of their burgers so I don't know if they are any good, but something tells me that they aren't that great.

[Ikonoklast]

79. It's all part of the Master Plan.

Burger King Is Imperialism.

C'mon people, the even have a 'King' in their advertising.
No subtlety whatever.

The bastards. They want fast-food hegemony over the entire planet.






:eyes:

[mainer]

81. True story: Tibetan monks here LOVED Burger King

We had a group of visiting Buddhist monks from Tibet. In Tibet, their diets require the availability of both meat and legumes, because the growing climate doesn't allow for adequate vegetarian diets. So they're definitely not vegetarians. And when they got here, to my town in Maine, they went utterly nuts for two establishments: Burger King and Pizza Hut. They kept wanting to go back, again and again. Needless to say, for those of us who idealize Buddhist monks as being ethical vegetarians, it was quite a revelation.

[woo me with science]

143. Ha! I love it! nt

[citizen snips]

92. its been awhile since I have been to bk.

I think I should stop by and order one.

[MilesColtrane]

95. They may not have a word for "Whopper™".

But, you can be damned sure after the taste test they'll have a word for "explosive diarrhea".

[bushmeister0]

96. Yes, look at those happy savages! They usually have diarrhea anyway, right?

And they they just love Americans!

So, the ad says their testing out their mega-death burgers on the denizens of Chiang Mai, Thailand.

I'm thinking their diets don't exactly prepare them for a freakin Whopper! I mean, the antibiotics alone should fuck them up royally!

From a travel page about what to do in Chiang Mai, where tourists go for health tips:

"Nothing however is as health-giving as a good balanced diet, and Thai food, with its fresh herbs, and abundance of fruit and vegetable based dishes, is rapidly eclipsing other cuisines in global popularity. Not surprisingly therefore, Thai Cooking Lessons are very popular, and various establishments offer cooking courses, including the Amari Rincome Hotel who can arrange classes for groups.

http://www.thaihotelsupply.com/tta/desguide_chiangmai.htm

See, people aregoing there to learn how to cook healthy, and Burger Death is going there to make everyone sick! Man, I hope these poor bastards have ready access to a toilet!

[RedCappedBandit]

102. These "whopper virgins" will..

probably get sick and vomit / have upset stomachs after being exposed to this garbage.

[riqster]

105. They'll probably get the Turkey Trots from eating a Whopper

...I mean, hey, BK does that to ME, and I am used to processed American 'food product'. To someone used to actual FOOD, it'll be like a nuke dropped down their gullet.

[KansDem]

113. Sounds like the campaign of a few decades ago to introduce infant formula to African mothers...

How does an industry go about creating consumers? There are clear rules:

• create a need where none existed

• convince consumers that your products are indispensable for the ‘good life’

• link products with the most desirable and unattainable concepts; and then give a sample... free.

How does this strategy work for infant formula? Formula marketing has systematically undermined its ‘competition’, breast-feeding, at both psychological and physiological levels. Promotional campaigns have encouraged the view that breastfeeding is complicated and prone to failure. Breast-feeding is thought of negatively on the basis of beauty(breast sag); work (you have to stay home); snob appeal (only the peasants do it); racism (white women don’t breastfeed); and fear (it won’t work, your baby will starve).

Knowing that fear and anxiety can actually stop lactation, companies consciously design marketing strategies that aggravate in-built worries and interfere with the pyschophysiology of the human body in order to sell more of their products. In Africa, Nestle’s Lactogen was advertised for use ‘when breast milk fails’. And in the 1950’s a radio jingle for Borden KLIM in the Belgian Congo went like this:

The child is going to die
Because the mother’s breast has given out
Mama o Mama the child cries
If you want your child to get well
Give it KLIM milk

What does make the infant formula case unique is that there are few other products where the marketing can actually undermine a normal bodily function in order to create the physical need for the commercial product. Unlike soap or toothpaste samples, which may create a psychological need for the product, formula samples literally hook the mother on formula For once bottlefeeding starts, breastmilk begins to dry up. When the free sample is finished, there is a physical need to buy more formula.

Formula samples used to be delivered to new mothers by ‘milk nurses’, women hired by milk companies and dressed in semiofficial uniforms to promote artificial feeding to mothers and health professionals. Banned from entering maternity wards directly in Singapore for example, Dumex milk nurses would wait just outside the hospital gates to catch new mothers with free samples on their way home. In Jamaica, Bristol Myers milk nurses evaded government bans to enter public maternity hospitals and copy down names and addresses of new mothers to visit at home and leave free samples. In the Philippines milk nurses worked the public housing projects of the poor, calling at dwellings where diapers on the clothesline signalled a newborn at home.

Now the baby formula firms have convinced many hospitals to act as their sales agents in handing out samples to new mothers. The effect is even more powerful. The hospital is essentially saying to each mother, ‘Here, use this formula It’s good stuff.’ Naturally baby formula companies compete viciously with each other for the hospital business as the stakes are so high. ‘When one considers that for every 100 infants discharged on a particular formula brand, approximately 93 infants remain on that brand,’ Abbot Laboratories sales training manual states, ‘the importance of hospital selling becomes obvious.’ So the hospital has become a platform from which commercial products are promoted for private gain.

In exchange for giving ‘discharge packs’ of formula to new mothers, hospitals get free formula for in-house use together with equipment, literature, and a package of other services. The most insidious of these is a free architectural service to hospitals which are building or renovating facilities for newborn care. Abbot Laboratories helps design at least 200 maternity departments a year in the US alone. The layout of these centres, whether by accident or design, makes breast-feeding difficult Mothers are physically separated from their newborns. Nurses can swiftly and conveniently administer donated formula in ready-to-mix bottles. But establishing breastfeeding is more troublesome because, instead of rooming-in mothers and babies together, babies must be carried long distances to their mothers for feeding, a task that nurses resent The investment in architectural plans thus yields dividends in the form of new bottlefeeding customers for the entire life span of the building.

Convincing doctors of the virtues of artificial milks — or at least neutralizing their resistance — is the key to establishing bottlefeeding. Babymilk companies spend untold millions of dollars subsidizing office furnishings, research projects, gifts, conferences, publications and travel junkets of the medical profession. The American Academy of Pediatrics received a renewable $1 million grant from Abbot Laboratories. The purpose is to generate physician good will toward the company and its products. An Abbott Laboratories trade publication states, ‘In effect, we are striving to make the physician a low-pressure salesman for Abbott’ And of course it is the ordinary purchaser of artificial babymilk who must pay a portion of the cost of every cocktail that a doctor sips at conventions like the recent ‘Ski-and-Study’ symposium at a California mountain resort which Abbott Laboratories helped finance.

The tactics work.. Physicians continue to allow free infant formula samples to be distributed despite the evidence that this discourages breastfeeding.

New Internationalist

"create a need where none existed"--That's what it's all about...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

120. You got that right!

This is exactly what Nestle did back in the sixties...

I have NEVER forgiven them.

Rat bastards, all of them!

I wish I could recommend your post...

:hi:

[KansDem]

121. Thanks, CaliforniaPeggy!

I wish I could recommend your post...

I consider that to be a compliment of the highest order! :D

Incidentally, I'm flying to San Francisco tomorrow for a one-day conference on Thursday, then it's off to Cotati for a few days to visit a friend. I think we're going vineyard-hopping. It'll feel good to be back in a blue state again!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

122. ...

:hug:

Enjoy your time out here!

:hi:

[woo me with science]

131. Just like therapists. nt

[Greyskye]

129. I'm a Whopper virgin

And I've never eaten a Big Mac either.

Hell, I doubt I'd even be able to finish one of those disgusting (to me, at least) burgers.

Of course, I haven't had a hamburger in over 20 years. I gave up mass produced ground beef after a local TV news crew uncovered the reason for a rash of local health problems. The meat department of the local supermarkets weren't cleaning out the ground beef grinders - leaving putrefying meat in the machines to be mixed in with the next batch. :puke: :puke: :puke:

I haven't missed them for a second. And wouldn't you know it - no spare tire at spitting distance of 50 years old. And unfortunately for me, no exercise program other than walking in from the parking lot to work. Too bad I don't work on an upper floor anymore. Those stairs were my daily exercise.

[woo me with science]

130. This is what happens when we don't have a good crisis to occupy us.

People get outraged over all kinds of silly crap.

[wtmusic]

135. Ain't that the truth

DU without a bonofide tragedy is like a vacuum. Nature f*cking abhors it.

[Rebubula]

140. I am outraged

That Krystal does not have stores in the North and In&Out Burger does not come West

Mmmmmm....4x4 Animal

[graywarrior]

141. Unfuckingbelievable.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

144. I think the commercials are funny

And, I don't even eat meat.

[Yukari Yakumo]

145. Now I remember what this ad campaign was reminding me of...

This video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w9EksAo5hY
Rammstein - Amerika