The Shrek Controversy

Posted by Susan Carney May 18, 2007

There has been a hotly contested debate recently regarding Health and Human Services’ plans to utilize the movie character “Shrek” for a series of public service announcements in their Childhood Obesity Prevention Campaign. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, leading the protest, found that the Shrek character is also involved in marketing campaigns “featuring more than seventy different products, most of which are for energy-dense, low-nutrient foods. Many of the promotions are targeted directly to preschoolers and children as young as two.” (CCFC, 1997). The hypocrisy of the situation is not lost on most thinking people.

Walk into any grocery store and you will see kid-friendly cartoon and movie characters stamped on everything from frozen pizza to cookies to breakfast cereals. They are not there to make a more enjoyable meal for the child. They are there to exploit a relationship between a child and a character and to use that relationship to sell products, many of which are less than healthy for a developing young body. This is not a new trend. But the recent explosion of licensed products (children’s clothing, toys, bedding, and other items that fill a child’s world receive a similar treatment) is likely due to the fact that these methods do work for advertisers. Kids see a product emblazoned with Dora, Elmo, or their current fave, and suddenly it’s a must-have.

Critics argue that teaming Shrek up with healthier choices is a weak effort on the part of the food industry to appear as if they care about kid’s health. The fact that they choose to do this while simultaneously marketing candy and McDonald’s (just yesterday, I passed a McDonald’s billboard lauding “Shrek Shakes”) shows the seriousness of their intent.

Its no different, really, than the flimsy anti-smoking campaigns that tobacco companies trot out while they spend millions advertising in magazines with large youth readerships, at musical events, and at sports events. The pro-health message is a drop in the bucket compared to the avalanche of messages kids get encouraging them to smoke or eat junk food. How dumb do these companies think consumers really are?