New NYC anti-salt campaign takes a more level-headed approach

According to Huffington Post, the above is part of New York City's new campaign to make citizens more aware of hidden sodium in their diets. It's a pretty modest little message. Especially considering what they were doing three years ago:

Via nutritioulicious

Via Diets in Review

Those ads drew the ire of the Center for Consumer Freedom (the lobby group for the fast food, meat, alcohol and tobacco industries). Stating that "the 1,300 milligrams of salt in a can of chicken and rice soup is actually less than a teaspoon," they produced this parody ad:

This is the problem with exaggerating the harm in a public health campaign. If you overstate your case, detractors can have a field day undermining your credibility.

That's why I'm happy to see a reasonable approach to salt awareness. The only problem is that the ad, as pictured up top, has no conceptual or visual appeal. It's as if, after the PRmageddon following their recent teen pregnancy campaign, the city's communication heads have dialed it back a little too much.

F'd Ad Fridays: Nando's double-breasted with chips

Nando's is a South African fast food chain known for their cheeky ads. I have a feeling that this one, although quite sexist, will appeal to some women's inner bitch.



Via YouTube

New anti-obesity ads pretty much ensure I'll never eat again

Look closer. It's shocking. It's gross. It's... veiny. And according to the BBC, these New York City Department of Health ads may be too disgusting to even make an impact:

"These images look so disgusting that it's a turn-off, you look away without taking the message in," said George Parker, an advertising expert and author of The Ubiquitous Persuaders.

It's apparently also triggering a backlash campaign by the Center for Consumer Freedom who are running ads that throw up statements like "You’re too stupid to make good personal decisions about foods and beverages" and “It’s your food. It’s your drink. It’s your freedom.”

The New York Department of Health ad is a hard-hitting one, if you take the time to stare at it and make the connection between unsightly fat and sugary drinks. If. But if you'll excuse me, I now feel like purging my healthy lunch.