Advertising and Food

This topic is just...downright stupid to me.
Reading the articles makes it seem like advertising is to blame for the world's obesity problem. Yes, because ads tell you "here eat all of this until you gain so much weight you develop health problems."

That was sarcasm.

Food advertising's job is to make the consumers think that the food they're selling is delicious. They're not going to advertise "Buy our food. It tastes good but its not good for you in large quantities." Thats not interesting to the average consumer. Thats the kind of things they put in the warning labels or daily nutrition info. In reality, this is the kind of information that consumers should be looking at themselves. Its up to the consumer to determine what affects their health in a positive or negative way. Putting the blame of obesity on advertising is just ridiculous.

Personally I like to lead a healthy lifestyle. I enjoy all sorts of foods, but i'm aware of what i'm eating. As are many other people in the world. Most of the time obesity is a personal choice. Its a habit. I could just as easily say that I don't care about what I eat or how much of it I eat. Whats that going to lead to? If I eat what I want and however much I want and don't work out, i'm going to be obese. Thats a given fact. But I make the choice to enjoy all the delicious advertised food in moderation and work out regularly. I choose not to gain weight to the point of health problems and obesity. Its about being disciplined, and people who say "its the advertising's fault!" just aren't disciplined enough to make the right choice about their bodies.

For people complaining that advertising is affecting the children:
Its the parent's job to tell their kids right from wrong. The parents of these supposedly vulnerable children are the ones who should be telling them whats good or bad for them, until the kids are old enough to make that choice for themselves. Advertising has a market, and that includes children. If a child asks for a food product they saw advertised on tv and their parents know its not good for them, just don't comply. Why blame the advertisers? If the parents give in knowing its bad for the child, thats on the parents, not the ads.