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'Chocolate for footballs' scheme criticised
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
Cadbury has been criticised for a promotional scheme that encourages children to eat large amounts of chocolate in exchange for sports gear.
The Food Commission has criticised the confectioner for a marketing scheme which involves collecting tokens from chocolate bars in exchange for school sports equipment.
The commission says the scheme is absurd and contradictory.
It says if children consumed all the promotional chocolate bars they would eat nearly two million kilos of fat and more than 36 billion calories.
Endorsed by minister for sport Richard Caborn as well as top athletes, the Cadbury Get Active marketing drive is being promoted with the Youth Sport Trust.
CADBURY'S PROMOTION
Volleyball - 320 chocolate bars
Cricket set - 2,730 bars
Basketball - 170 bars
Volleyball posts - 5,440 bars, costing £2,000 with 1.25m calories
One newspaper calculated that under the scheme, one set of posts and nets for volleyball would require tokens from 5,440 bars.
The Food Commission pointed out this would entail children spending more than £2,000 on chocolate and wolfing their way through 1.25 million calories.
If the UK's pupils were to collect all of the 160 million token, they would be purchasing 2 million kilos of fat.
A 10-year-old child eating enough chocolate to get his school a basketball would need to play the game for 90 hours to burn off the calories consumed, the Guardian reported.
It is ridiculous to combine a fitness campaign with eating chocolate
Tim Lobstein
Food Commission
The chairman of the government's obesity taskforce, Professor Phil James, said: "This is a classic example of how the food and soft drink industry are failing to take on board that they are major contributors to obesity problems throughout the world.
"They always try to divert attention to physical activity. Independent analysts have found Cadbury Schweppes has one of the worst portfolios for products in terms of children's well-being."
Tim Lobstein, Food Commission director, said: "The amounts of chocolate involved for these 'gifts' is quite astounding.
"It is ridiculous to combine a fitness campaign with eating chocolate."
But Cadbury is adamant that the scheme will not specifically encourage children to eat more chocolate, instead suggesting the scheme allows the wider community to help schools.
The Food Commission has criticised the confectioner for a marketing scheme which involves collecting tokens from chocolate bars in exchange for school sports equipment.
The commission says the scheme is absurd and contradictory.
It says if children consumed all the promotional chocolate bars they would eat nearly two million kilos of fat and more than 36 billion calories.
Endorsed by minister for sport Richard Caborn as well as top athletes, the Cadbury Get Active marketing drive is being promoted with the Youth Sport Trust.
CADBURY'S PROMOTION
Volleyball - 320 chocolate bars
Cricket set - 2,730 bars
Basketball - 170 bars
Volleyball posts - 5,440 bars, costing £2,000 with 1.25m calories
One newspaper calculated that under the scheme, one set of posts and nets for volleyball would require tokens from 5,440 bars.
The Food Commission pointed out this would entail children spending more than £2,000 on chocolate and wolfing their way through 1.25 million calories.
If the UK's pupils were to collect all of the 160 million token, they would be purchasing 2 million kilos of fat.
A 10-year-old child eating enough chocolate to get his school a basketball would need to play the game for 90 hours to burn off the calories consumed, the Guardian reported.
It is ridiculous to combine a fitness campaign with eating chocolate
Tim Lobstein
Food Commission
The chairman of the government's obesity taskforce, Professor Phil James, said: "This is a classic example of how the food and soft drink industry are failing to take on board that they are major contributors to obesity problems throughout the world.
"They always try to divert attention to physical activity. Independent analysts have found Cadbury Schweppes has one of the worst portfolios for products in terms of children's well-being."
Tim Lobstein, Food Commission director, said: "The amounts of chocolate involved for these 'gifts' is quite astounding.
"It is ridiculous to combine a fitness campaign with eating chocolate."
But Cadbury is adamant that the scheme will not specifically encourage children to eat more chocolate, instead suggesting the scheme allows the wider community to help schools.
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Comments
I don't think people are gonna eat any more chocolate than they already do tho.
If your buying theproduct why not get something "free". Sure you need 10billion wrappers for a key-ring but I don't hink it will encourage folk to go out and gorge themselves.
These mass-token-collecting-promos are geared towards groups of people (Schools, after-school clubs, etc...) to collect tokens as a group.
I think there are to many meddling people in the world who have nothing better to do than moan about these companies who give away free equipment.
Do they moan when they get free decanters from BP once they've put 65million litres of fuel in their car? I doubt it
its a ridiculous idea.
whatver next, benson and hedges doing tokens to save up for private health care.
Why is it ridiculous? The kids are going to buy the choc anyway so why not get some kinda freebies out of it? It's no different to Coke/Pepsi getting folk to save ring-pulls for CD's, etc....
the children wouldnt be buying all that chocolate normally, and it would probably encourage them to buy more than normal. I think its ridiculous because of the two activities - eating chocolate and playing sport being in direct contrast with each other healthwise.
So if the companies were giving away something else instead of chocolate it would be acceptable? Something like cooking equipment? It's simple kids eat chocolate. Let them collect the tokens and trade them in for something they'll use.
These companies don't expect single consumers to save up 3000 wrappers. These promos are geared towards organisations to collect as a group.
I don't think it'll encourage kids to eat more chocolate any more than it doesn't encourage them to drink more cola for some crappy song from Blue or the Kittens.
Indeed they do.
By a strange quirk of coincidence the level of childhood obesity in this country is rising, add that to the long term effects that this has on people's health and you have serious problems being stored for the future.
What we have here is an organisation who are using a gimmick in an attempt to encourage people to eat more of what is an unhealthy diet. Cadbury's aren't expecting people to continue eating chocolate at the same levels, this isn't alturism on their part. They expect to see a huge increase in sales, which they expect will more than cover the cost of the equipment.
Rainbow got it right, it's like tobacco companies offering oxygen masks.
I can see how it can be seen as contradictory (/sp?) on Cadburys behalf. Chocolate = unhealth. sports equip = health.
But look at it this way. 1 kid eats 3 bars a week (not unreasonable, agree?) Multiply that by 1500 kids in a school. Thats 4500 tokens per week. In a month thats 18000 tokens. That's a new swimming pool or a trip to the moon for a class or something.
From that perspective it doesn't look too bad. Do I get to choose which kids go to the moon?
~~~
Seriously though, whichever way we look at this, whoever ends up with the equipment the ultimate aim is the same. Gets kids to eat more chocolate.
Now, if the English Apples Society (or whatever they call themselves) did the same thing, I'd support them...
That's a valid point mate. How come the healthy food societies don't have free promo giveaway things.
Because they don't have the financial clout to back them up, nor the advertising. There aren't many huge farming companies around with the infrastructure to support such a move. Certainly no-one to compete with companies like Nestle or Cadbury's.
Hell, even McDonalds promote unheathy foods to a greater extent that their healthier varieties. Example: recent McDonalds advertising has been centered around their new range of options which includes something with Salsa. This is a fried chicken meal thing. At the same time, they have launched a "healthier" Happy Meal which includes fruit. So, how much TV time have you seen for the former, and how much for the latter?
That's where parents need to take charge, make sure that their children's diet is balanced so that they aren't just eating what is easy to cook, or their child's favourite. Or what keeps them quiet.