Fucking Nestle and their 'Battle of the Breakfasts'

[goldiehorn]

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 )

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.

[Trazzletoes]

[breatheslowly]

I normally consider myself to be well informed and capable of making good decisions for DD, but I was a bit surprised when I looked at the nutritional content of the breakfast cereals we offer her. I know I could have turned the box around at any time and looked, but I never have until now. Cheerios are 20% sugar, Rice Krispies are 10% sugar. I bought the Cheerios as they have them in nursery and I got the impression that they were quite carefully fed in nursery (no frosties or coco pops).

[littleducks]

Complain to the ASA, listing the reasons and calculations as you did here. I complained a few years ago about dairylea lunchables being advertised as healthy/a balanced lunch whilst having shocking amounts of the RDA of fat and salt. My complaint was upheld...I was chuffed!

[BadgersRetreat]

i grew up on coco-pops and Frosties. It's amazing i have any teeth

i didn't know about bran flakes either. i'm going to have a bit of a sugar inspection in the supermarket next time i go.

[Trazzletoes]

I know Serenity, I was shocked! But they are pretty bad for you. Weetabix all the way!

[SirBoobAlot]

Nestle manage to make out that they give a shit about people every single day. When in actual fact they are a mulit-billion pound company who care about nothing other than making as much money as they can.

This series of adverts is terrible but unsurprising, frankly. Seeing as they have recently also declared that water isn't a human right and should have a price tag on it.

[Serenitysutton]

Do branflakes really have lots of sugar? They're not sweet at all!

[BombayBadonkadonks]

That fruitizz from maccyDs was awful!

[Yfronts]

I'm a breakfast dictator too. Oats or eggs here.

[anklebitersmum]

and this is the reason I am known as a breakfast dictator. Mine get over-excited when they're allowed 'special holiday cereal' like multi wheats or cornflakes and when Nanny bought them a chocolate cereal...well!

[PolkadotCircus]

It only takes 2 minutes too,it's soo easy and quick.They're really nice to deal with,you get a proper letter back not a computer generated thing.

[Softlysoftly]

Agree with pp contact the advertising standards authority and complain. Even if they are technically right the spirit of the advertising is wrong and I believe they cover online now.

I would also like to see that low sugar list as I find it impossible to find something on the aisles!

[PolkadotCircus]

It might be worth contacting the advertising complaints people,you can do it online.I did re McDonalds Fruitizz and they took it really seriously,sent me a follow up report and everything.Said several people had done the same and you know the saying re the squeaky wheel.It may come to nothing but the more people that show their displeasure the better.

[gemma4d]

They are spending millions on their advertising. They wouldn't if it didn't work. Whether its children, or less educated people who don't understand nutrition, or any other group, someone is being persuaded by this information. I think it shouldn't be allowed - not when it's basically lies.

Remember nutella - made with milk, hazelnuts and cocoa powder. Are you sure they didn't miss a main ingredient off that list?

[SPBInDisguise]

:o

[MechanicalTheatre]

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

[SPBInDisguise]

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

[Isildur]

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.

[MechanicalTheatre]

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.

[PolkadotCircus]

I totally agree Sirzy

[Sirzy]

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.

[PolkadotCircus]

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

[Isildur]

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.

[PolkadotCircus]

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.