5 ms·

My not-so-perfect heuristic for eating - if it's marketed and advertised at least in 2 forms of media, I don't eat it. Malted beverages, sugary cereal, refined

My not-so-perfect heuristic for eating - if it's marketed and advertised at least in 2 forms of media, I don't eat it. Malted beverages, sugary cereal, refined-flour cookies, take-away pizzas and of course, the great big marketing machine - the sodas. All of them meet this criteria and I don't consider any of these healthy.

alexbanks 10y ago
I don't understand. What isn't marketed that way?
- gumby 10y ago
  Fresh tomatoes and the like.
  - timv 10y ago
    In Australia supermarkets certainly advertise fresh fruit and vegetables in multiple forms of media. And not just "we sell vegetables", but "this week Australian grown XXXX are just $Y per kg!" Australian readers can probably hear that Coles announcer voice in the heads right now. Does this heuristic only apply if its a standalone advertisement? That would cut out bananas, mangos, avocados, pistachios, every mainstream meat, eggs, dairy and water (both bottled and tap).
    - roystonvassey 10y ago
      Right, supermarkets are necessarily not selling the product as much as their brand. The message here is - 'Come to our store, we have all these products at discounted prices'.
- iends 10y ago
  Around here we see generic marketing from the various egg, chicken, diary, etc lobbies in tv, radio, and print form. It would be impossible to follow the parent poster's rules and eat anything (big time lettuce might not be into marketing, who knows).
- wavefunction 10y ago
  You ever see an advertisement for broccoli?
  - burger_moon 10y ago
    You've never seen advertisements for the Jolly Green Giant?
- galdosdi 10y ago
  Natural commodities like cabbage, potatoes, beans, peppers, etc are barely advertised. Generally, if it's something anyone can make and there's no good way to differentiate it, there's not much point doing much marketing. Can't speak for the OP but maybe this is what they meant?
  - zitterbewegung 10y ago
    I have seen potatoes from Idaho advertised, Avocados from Mexico and Milk from California Cows. So Natural commodities are marketed this way.
    - failrate 10y ago
      Maybe we should eat more turnips and string beans?
    - jonah 10y ago
      Absolutely. These campaigns are all the products of Agriculture Marketing Boards[1] and are generally state-based. They're cooperative marketing agencies which growers and producers belong to to collectively promote their generic product. See also the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service[2]. Idaho Potatoes: https://idahopotato.com https://idahopotato.com California Walnuts: https://www.walnuts.org https://www.walnuts.org California Almonds: http://www.almonds.com http://www.almonds.com California Raisins: http://calraisins.org http://calraisins.org / http://raisins.org http://raisins.org are a few of the domestic ones I've worked with over the years. EDIT: Here's a list of all the official California Agricultural Marketing Programs[3] Speaking of foreign avocados, in addition to Mexico, Chile grows and exports a lot to the US. Of of their interesting arguments is that being in the Southern Hemisphere, their crop is counter-seasonal to our domestic avos. http://avocadosfromchile.org http://avocadosfromchile.org [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_board https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_board [2] https://www.ams.usda.gov https://www.ams.usda.gov [3] https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/mkt/mkt/pdf/ProgramContactInformation.pdf https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/mkt/mkt/pdf/ProgramContactInformatio...
      - deleted 10y ago
LeifCarrotson 10y ago
> and of course, the great big marketing machine - the sodas. I recently read a science fiction story that described a near-future society in which the space race is restarted following the discovery of an alien drone ship. It describes the situation [1]: > With rumours abounding that several South American nations are in talks to form their own unified space agency, not to mention the fledgling private endeavours of Virgin, Red Bull, Mitsubishi, Google and BAE Systems, It seems that the second Space Race has begun in earnest. Red Bull does seem a little out of place in that list, but not much. Why is it that an energy drink company spends SO MUCH on advertising that this isn't all that incongruous? [1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/2lkrph/jenkinsverse_9_gains_and_losses/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/2lkrph/jenkinsverse_9_...
- failrate 10y ago
  Red Bull is attached to airplane races both legitimate and fanciful. They are not as out of place on that list as you first imagine.
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    Not to mention the Felix Baumgartner jump[0], which was organized/sponsored by Red Bull. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Stratos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Stratos
  - LeifCarrotson 10y ago
    Yes, I think the Red Bull Air Races are awesome, and they're definitely pushing limits in an area of the human and aeronautic performance envelope that's been passed over by the military. But why and how is a fizzy drink company doing all this? They're also attached as my sibling comment notes to Felix Baumgartner's space jump. Not to mention such diverse activites as snowboarding, mountain biking, freestyle motocross, ice cross downhill, skiing and BMX events. Cliff diving. Soapbox races. Flugtag. F1. E-sports. Stock Cars. Rallycross. Association football. Sailing. Being at the forefront of these industries is not normal for eg. Horlicks. They manufacture energy drinks, but they're at home in the above industries. How weird is that?
defen 10y ago
Lately my own heuristic is that if the label has more than two ingredients (not counting salt / natural spices) I don't eat it. That means if I want something unhealthy I have to make it myself from scratch, which puts a natural limitation on a big chunk of unhealthy eating possibilities. Of course it's still possible to eat unhealthily this way (the all-steak all-the-time diet comes to mind)

alexbanks 10y ago

I don't understand. What isn't marketed that way?

gumby 10y ago
Fresh tomatoes and the like.
- timv 10y ago
  In Australia supermarkets certainly advertise fresh fruit and vegetables in multiple forms of media. And not just "we sell vegetables", but "this week Australian grown XXXX are just $Y per kg!" Australian readers can probably hear that Coles announcer voice in the heads right now. Does this heuristic only apply if its a standalone advertisement? That would cut out bananas, mangos, avocados, pistachios, every mainstream meat, eggs, dairy and water (both bottled and tap).
  - roystonvassey 10y ago
    Right, supermarkets are necessarily not selling the product as much as their brand. The message here is - 'Come to our store, we have all these products at discounted prices'.
iends 10y ago
Around here we see generic marketing from the various egg, chicken, diary, etc lobbies in tv, radio, and print form. It would be impossible to follow the parent poster's rules and eat anything (big time lettuce might not be into marketing, who knows).
wavefunction 10y ago
You ever see an advertisement for broccoli?
- burger_moon 10y ago
  You've never seen advertisements for the Jolly Green Giant?
galdosdi 10y ago
Natural commodities like cabbage, potatoes, beans, peppers, etc are barely advertised. Generally, if it's something anyone can make and there's no good way to differentiate it, there's not much point doing much marketing. Can't speak for the OP but maybe this is what they meant?
- zitterbewegung 10y ago
  I have seen potatoes from Idaho advertised, Avocados from Mexico and Milk from California Cows. So Natural commodities are marketed this way.
  - failrate 10y ago
    Maybe we should eat more turnips and string beans?
  - jonah 10y ago
    Absolutely. These campaigns are all the products of Agriculture Marketing Boards[1] and are generally state-based. They're cooperative marketing agencies which growers and producers belong to to collectively promote their generic product. See also the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service[2]. Idaho Potatoes: https://idahopotato.com https://idahopotato.com California Walnuts: https://www.walnuts.org https://www.walnuts.org California Almonds: http://www.almonds.com http://www.almonds.com California Raisins: http://calraisins.org http://calraisins.org / http://raisins.org http://raisins.org are a few of the domestic ones I've worked with over the years. EDIT: Here's a list of all the official California Agricultural Marketing Programs[3] Speaking of foreign avocados, in addition to Mexico, Chile grows and exports a lot to the US. Of of their interesting arguments is that being in the Southern Hemisphere, their crop is counter-seasonal to our domestic avos. http://avocadosfromchile.org http://avocadosfromchile.org [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_board https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_board [2] https://www.ams.usda.gov https://www.ams.usda.gov [3] https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/mkt/mkt/pdf/ProgramContactInformation.pdf https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/mkt/mkt/pdf/ProgramContactInformatio...
    - deleted 10y ago

LeifCarrotson 10y ago

> and of course, the great big marketing machine - the sodas. I recently read a science fiction story that described a near-future society in which the space race is restarted following the discovery of an alien drone ship. It describes the situation [1]: > With rumours abounding that several South American nations are in talks to form their own unified space agency, not to mention the fledgling private endeavours of Virgin, Red Bull, Mitsubishi, Google and BAE Systems, It seems that the second Space Race has begun in earnest. Red Bull does seem a little out of place in that list, but not much. Why is it that an energy drink company spends SO MUCH on advertising that this isn't all that incongruous? [1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/2lkrph/jenkinsverse_9_gains_and_losses/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/2lkrph/jenkinsverse_9_...

failrate 10y ago
Red Bull is attached to airplane races both legitimate and fanciful. They are not as out of place on that list as you first imagine.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Not to mention the Felix Baumgartner jump[0], which was organized/sponsored by Red Bull. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Stratos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Stratos
- LeifCarrotson 10y ago
  Yes, I think the Red Bull Air Races are awesome, and they're definitely pushing limits in an area of the human and aeronautic performance envelope that's been passed over by the military. But why and how is a fizzy drink company doing all this? They're also attached as my sibling comment notes to Felix Baumgartner's space jump. Not to mention such diverse activites as snowboarding, mountain biking, freestyle motocross, ice cross downhill, skiing and BMX events. Cliff diving. Soapbox races. Flugtag. F1. E-sports. Stock Cars. Rallycross. Association football. Sailing. Being at the forefront of these industries is not normal for eg. Horlicks. They manufacture energy drinks, but they're at home in the above industries. How weird is that?

defen 10y ago

Lately my own heuristic is that if the label has more than two ingredients (not counting salt / natural spices) I don't eat it. That means if I want something unhealthy I have to make it myself from scratch, which puts a natural limitation on a big chunk of unhealthy eating possibilities. Of course it's still possible to eat unhealthily this way (the all-steak all-the-time diet comes to mind)