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AIBU?

Fucking Nestle and their 'Battle of the Breakfasts'

41 replies

goldiehorn · 31/01/2013 17:06

I saw an advert for this today and went on to the website knowing what I would see there.

As expected they have made out that cereals like Cookie Crisp are a healthier choice than egg on toast, because they contain less fat.

First of all they have based the nutritional value of cookie crisp on a 30g serving which is so small, I dont think anyone actually only has 30g for breakfast, even kids. Yes, unsurprisingly egg on toast has more calories than this tiny serving of cereal, but the cereal contains a massive 18% of an adult's gda of sugar. But when you go on the 'why breakfast' info section of the site, it says nothing about sugar (apart from that apparently cereals can contribute 5% of your daily sugar needs Hmm )

Also they have used white bread for the egg on toast comparison (and have, I imagine chosen the saltiest and highest in calorie bread to do this) and have used 20g of salty marge rather than a scraping of unsalted butter.

Ok, so I know IABU to be surprised at this from Nestle given their past form, but this just makes me so cross. They are purposely playing on parents worries about ensuring that their child eats something for breakfast to peddle their shit. Yes I know sugar aint crack blah blah blah, but cookie crisp for breakfast every day is NOT a healthy start for a child, even if it does contain wholegrains and are low in fat. Yet Nestle are using a website like this to try and insist to parents that actually cereal is healthy.

AIBU to think this website is bullshit? Surely there must be some way of stopping this, this is why the children of this country are headed for an obesity crisis. They think that stuff like this is not only normal food, but healthy food.

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Tee2072 · 31/01/2013 17:08

Hmm

So as parents we can't read and make our own decisions? We completely rely on advertising and what Nestle and others are saying?

Be a parent. Read the ingredients yourself. Control what your children eat.

Stop blaming big corp for your (general your, not you personally OP) inability to parent your children. Take some responsibility.

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MechanicalTheatre · 31/01/2013 17:11

That is shit. I mean, who the hell eats 20g of marg? That is shit loads. An egg has protein and other nutrients and properly fills you up. Cookie Crisp (while undeniably delicious, even though I boycott Nestle, I accidentally ate it once) is just full of sugar and chemicals.

They are such schemers.

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MechanicalTheatre · 31/01/2013 17:12

Tee but they use those tactics because they work.

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goldiehorn · 31/01/2013 17:15

Tee believe me I am all for Personal responsibility especially when it comes to weight. But when are constantly bombarded with the (incorrect) assertion that fat is the enemy and everything you eat is full of hidden sugar it becomes more difficult.

And if people didnt believe this stuff then nestle would not bother spending millions on advertising their wares.

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TarkaTheOtter · 31/01/2013 17:15

Of course advertising works on parents! Otherwise why would corporations spend millions on it?!?

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Isildur · 31/01/2013 17:16

I seriously doubt that anyone worrying about what their children eat for breakfast, is going to believe Cookie Crisp is the way to go.

Companies throwing money at advetisments are keeping the economy afloat, but I doubt they are swaying whole sectors of the population into believing even a fraction of what they say.
People buy cereal like that because it's a novelty, not because they think it's good for them.


And Cookie Crisp tastes like vomit. They probably use Hersheys 'chocolate'.

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TarkaTheOtter · 31/01/2013 17:16

X posts goldie

Nestlé really have form don't they!

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Trazzletoes · 31/01/2013 17:17

Tell me about it. I grew up on Bran Flakes. That's a healthy cereal, right? Oh no - sooooooooo wrong!

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MechanicalTheatre · 31/01/2013 17:22

"I doubt they are swaying whole sectors of the population" - why on earth would they keep doing it then? Advertising works, it has been proven time and again.

Look at Special K. All the women I know that are on diets eat it. But it is shit.

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Isildur · 31/01/2013 17:24

But most breakfast cereals are pretty much junk.

Oats/porridge are good, but the Kellogs/Nestle type things are the equivalent of a slice of sugared bread.

I don't think they are quite as popular outside of the UK. A 'cereal market' exists here, and the advertisers are just jostling for position within it.

No one really believes a bowl of cereal is all that great, but it is convenient, and established.

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PolkadotCircus · 31/01/2013 17:26

Yanbu I saw an advert on TV I presume the same one which was for Nutella on bread and milkshake being a healthy breakfast.My dc then tried to argue both would be a healthy breakfast purchase -errr fraid not kids.

I think advertising like this should be banned,starting to think it won't be long.

And when oh when are supermarkets going to put all the lower sugar cereal on one shelf,sick and tired of trawling through them all to find one lower than 20g of sugar in100g,it's like looking for a needle in a haystack,think we need a MN list.

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goldiehorn · 31/01/2013 17:27

Actually one of nestles big target areas are parent whose children don't like eating breakfast and they roll out the 'cookie crisp is better than nothing' line.

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PolkadotCircus · 31/01/2013 17:28

I read something that said companies put more sugar in UK cereal than in other countries even the US.

They think sugar is as addictive to crack-must be the reason why.

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PolkadotCircus · 31/01/2013 17:29

Goodie my dd is one of those.It takes balls of steel to stick firm which I do do but I can see why many cave,you worry when they go to school on very little.

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Sirzy · 31/01/2013 17:30

I have never understood why anyone would think something like "cookie crisps" is a good breakfast, but I think trying to make out it is a healthy option (or better option than something that is a relatively healthy breakfast) is wrong.

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orangina · 31/01/2013 17:35

The problem is that the parents "who worry about what their kids eat for breakfast will not beleive Cookie Crisp is the way to go", are NOT the parents who they are targetting. They are targetting the parents who have given up on the breakfast battle with their children, or who don't know any better, or who don't care. And it is those households who would benefit from some kind of basic education on all this shite that is being peddled to us all as nutrition...

(rants)

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PolkadotCircus · 31/01/2013 17:39

It's the educating children completely wrong facts about nutrition I worry about the most.Sets up another generation of misinformed parents and keeps the obesity epidemic building.

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Isildur · 31/01/2013 17:47

But I'm not sure that anyone at all is falling for the 'health benefits' part of the ad.

If you mention cereals like that, people who have bought them generally say 'oh I know it's crap, but...'.

No one goes through school here without learning something about how the media, and the advertising industry etc. work, and everyone is given a grounding in basic nutrition.

Even a primary school pupil would be able to figure out that gimmicky cereal might not be the healthiest choice.

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PolkadotCircus · 31/01/2013 17:59

Then why do they do the ads if people know they are crap and that they shouldn't be feeding them to their dc?

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Sirzy · 31/01/2013 17:59

But their advertising is trying to make out its a good choice when is far from. Selling something as tasty is one thing but to try to sell something like that as healthy is just wrong.

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PolkadotCircus · 31/01/2013 18:00

I totally agree Sirzy

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MechanicalTheatre · 31/01/2013 18:03

I grew up eating Coco Pops every morning. I'm sure my mother didn't think it was a bad breakfast, she just didn't want to think about it, didn't have the time or energy for the battles in the morning and thought it was better to get SOMETHING into us. I mean, it takes a minute to get cereal into a bowl, compared to 5 minutes doing an egg.

That's the type of parents they're targetting.

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Isildur · 31/01/2013 18:08

It's just the way advertising works, isn't it?

Nobody believes that spraying yourself head to toe in Lynx will turn you into Adonis, but if the ad sticks in your mind, you might choose it over something else.

Nobody believes Cookie Crisp is better than an egg, but if you are in the market for sugary breakfast cereal, and don't possess any taste buds, you might remember the ridiculous advert choose them over Coco Pops.

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SPBInDisguise · 31/01/2013 18:08

Take me 40 seconds to cook an egg in the microwave :)
And i'm on a diet, I have an egg for breakfast most days

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MechanicalTheatre · 31/01/2013 18:13

I'll tell my mam SPB maybe she can time travel to the 80s and feed me properly this time.

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