Don't put that in your mouth, you sinner!

I really fucking hate it when some food is described as "sinful" or "bad" or when ads imply you should feel "guilt" for eating it. Why the fuck would I feel guilty for eating a candy bar? If I eat too much of them I will get fat but it's my body, right? Where does guilt come into it? You will notice this is an advertising meme aimed almost solely at women, as though our bodies are not really our own - I guess it's our responsibility to keep thin, not for ourselves, but for the greater good of society. You mostly see it ads for "low calorie" foods (which are often just as unhealthy), with the implication being that you can enjoy a postage stamp sized bit of chocolate without guilt. You know what, fuck you Dove chocolates (or Yoplait light yogurt or whichever company is currently beating this drum). If I make good food choices it's because I have decided I want to live longer, or fit into my clothes, or feel better, but that's something I do for me. "Guilt", or that oddly religious word "sin" (eat that cake and go to hell!) has nothing to do with it, and you can shove that shame you're trying to put on me down your own throat.

I'll take it one step further: associating certain foods with "health" and other foods with "guilt" is moronic. The poison is in the dose, folks. Eat too much of anything and you're going to either gain weight or cause some sort of health problem. There is no such thing as "eat as much as you want" when you're not living in a feast or famine situation.

Basically, don't rely on advertising to help you make your food choices. They lie, they misrepresent, they try to shame you, etc. Women are particularly vulnerable to messages about weight (and why that might be is a whole 'nother thread) and so they're especially targeted here.

It's very hard to not be influence by marketing. We all say we aren't but ads work--maybe not always in the way intended, but they do work.

I suppose I hadn't really thought about sin and food in a long time because I got over feeling guilty about what I put in my mouth some time ago. I do remember having guilt about my intake when I was pregnant--which is a whole other level of hell for women (not the pregnancy, the whole "we will police what you put in your mouth" schtick that comes with being pregnant, but that's another thread as well).


I confess I am puzzled by the kind of commercials you mention, but especially this one yogurt ad that features a husband bragging to his buddy on the phone about how he can eat Key Lime Pie etc w/o gaining an ounce. Of course, this yogurt has that flavor and other bizarre yogurt flavors besides. Here's my beef with it: besides the whole "I'm getting something for nothing" mindset aka he's having his "cake" and eating it too, who would want a yogurt to taste like Key Lime Pie? :confused: There is watermelon flavored yogurt out there--the thought of watermelon and a milk product together makes me nauseated. Why can't yogurt just be yogurt?

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Originally posted by Zuul

There is no such thing as "eat as much as you want" when you're not living in a feast or famine situation.

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Oh yeah? Go on a straight celery diet! I bet you can eat all you can stomach, literally, and still lose weight. (Note there are some potential problems with meeting trace mineral requirements on this diet. Do not try at home. ;))

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Originally posted by OtakuLoki

Oh yeah? Go on a straight celery diet! I bet you can eat all you can stomach, literally, and still lose weight. (Note there are some potential problems with meeting trace mineral requirements on this diet. Do not try at home. ;))

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Ahem.

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Eat too much of anything and you're going to either gain weight or cause some sort of health problem.

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I got it covered. :cool:

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Originally posted by Zuul

Basically, don't rely on advertising to help you make your food choices. They lie, they misrepresent, they try to shame you, etc.

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Yes. This. Advertising works best when they can get an emotional reaction out of you. Hence, loaded words and phrases like "guilt-free" and "sinful". So when you're standing in front of the yogurt, you aren't actually thinking about making a good food choice. Instead, you are feeling like a disgusting pig. But look! 100 calorie cinnamon bun thick-and-creamy! Well, how can you go wrong with that? Go crazy, fattie!

Okay, when you call a thread "Don't put that in your mouth, you sinner," it makes me giggle a whole fucking lot, but that's also another thread.

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Originally posted by Zuul

Basically, don't rely on advertising to help you make your food choices. They lie, they misrepresent, they try to shame you, etc. Women are particularly vulnerable to messages about weight (and why that might be is a whole 'nother thread) and so they're especially targeted here.

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We haven't talked about that particular thing in my Visual Comm. class, but we've talked a lot about advertising. One thing that's come up is that there's a trend in advertising to make everything about social status. You have a floating candy bar? Your friend will try to steal it. You're on a yogurt diet? Don't tell your friends it's yogurt, just tell them it's tasty.

I don't like the disrespect the woman shows for her "child" her husband.

"Babe, what are you doing?"

I want him to say, "I'm looking at the shit I bought. What's it to you?"

Instead he looks sheepish,.

doble posto!

I agree.

Western society obsessed with thin female form + Western society built on Judeo-Christianity and its system of rewards and punishments = feelings of guilt over eating a goddamn brownie.

Like Marsilia, I kind of hoped this thread would be about human breasts, not the kind you get from KFC. :lol: :(

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Originally posted by jali

I don't like the disrespect the woman shows for her "child" her husband.

"Babe, what are you doing?"

I want him to say, "I'm looking at the shit I bought. What's it to you?"

Instead he looks sheepish,.

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Oh yes, I would have liked that, too. The infantalization of men in commercials targeted toward women is so obnoxious.

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Originally posted by Myrnalene

I really fucking hate it when some food is described as "sinful" or "bad" or when ads imply you should feel "guilt" for eating it.

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When the insurance industry finalizes it's takeover of the US this sort of thing will be cleared up once and for all. Anyone caught indulging in sin* will just be cut off from health care.


* As defined by the insurance companies

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Originally posted by Myrnalene

I really fucking hate it when some food is described as "sinful" or "bad" or when ads imply you should feel "guilt" for eating it.

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Check out the language used in those commercials, and the way it's worded. You'll never find words like "decadent", "indulge", "temptation", and so on in commercials aimed at men. Google/Bing/whatever those three words, and about 90% of the results are for desserts or chocolate, with women being the target market.

This is all about psychology and marketing; what women respond to versus what men respond to. Market some pastry towards men, and it'll be pitched as a reward; something to quell your hunger after a hard day's work. For women, it's marketed as an escape, with some empowerment thrown in for good measure. Same thing with shampoo and bath gel; men are shown scrubbing away, as if they're thinking "Hot water gonna' run out in a minute! This 50-grit soap is great!", while women are gently rubbing their bodies, coyly smiling as their eyes remain closed, as if they're thinking "This shower is my personal refuge from the larger world. Using this bath gel not only removes the sweat from my bikram yoga class, but also empowers me as a woman. Renew. Refresh. Revitalize."

I prefer my desserts to have low moral standards.

Would that be blood pudding?