Cheerios and Their “Non-Challenging Challenge”
When I first saw this box of Cheerios, I scoffed. We are living in a time when obesity is so rampant that clothing companies are beginning to cut their clothes more generously. That says something: companies are thinking that the shift in America’s weight is a permanent one. If we want to survive as a people, then it cannot be though. People need to slim down and live better. The last thing we need is for a company making a relatively good product and selling it with a message of laziness.
According to Cheerios, eating Honey-Nut Cheerios is an easy way to help lower cholesterol. Fine. Not everything you do can be a mega challenge. Mixing up easy things (drinking more water, for example) and harder ones (taking up a new physical activity or sport) is a good way to improve health. But the messages on the box? They promote idleness — the very thing that is contributing to wider waistlines!
Here are a few examples of what Cheerios considers challenging, and suggests easy alternatives to:
- Walking five miles
- Giving up your favorite sweets
- Finding 30 minutes to exercise
- Holding off a snack attack
Seriously? It’s half-assed efforts (like splitting desserts) that got us here. Laziness just isn’t a marketing technique and as much as I like these Cheerios for my kids, I don’t like when a company tries to manipulate consumers in a terrible and negative way.
This campaign could have been a fantastic, positive message about making a series of small and large changes to improve health. Instead, it’s filled with language and ideas that just rub me - a health conscious woman and mom - the total wrong way.
Next!
Actually, I have that box. The thing is, I like that manner of thinking. They could be trying to guilt everyone into eating better, instead, they’re finding ways to make it easier for people to do what they know is right. It’s hard to give up sweets, for instance, and you might do it for a while and relapse, and go and eat three desserts in a row. But if you let yourself have the sweets, in a smaller portion, and get some good company out of it, how is that lazy? It’s a small reward, and as you cut down on bad foods and exercise more, it gets easier to keep on doing so.