Cheetos encouraging kids to "stick it to The Man"
Filed under: Nutrition: Health, In The News, Media
My five -year-old loves Cheetos; when he gets the chance to choose a treat, he will skip past the cookies and candy in the grocery and beg for a bag of the orange-covered corn puffs. Usually I oblige, but lately I've been rethinking that, not so much because I worry that the orange stuff will give him cancer or stunt his growth (both entirely possible I suppose) but because the Cheetos "Orange Underground" ad campaign offends every fiber of my being, as a parent and a person.You know these ads -- the one I see the most frequently shows a woman in a laundromat putting a Cheeto into the dryer with someone else's whites. She is being egged on by the Cheeto Cheetah, who is downright creepy with his sunglasses and his Barry White voice. Other spots encourage similar "Random Acts of Cheetos," which are essentially just malicious vandalism perpetrated with snack food.
Snack food, I should add, that is marketed primarily to kids.
Bob Garfield at Advertising Age sums up the RAoC ad campaign this way: "Get it? Alienated teenagers and young men chafe against authority. So frustrated and resentful are they about their humiliating powerlessness, they tend to lash out -- or at least fantasize about lashing out -- at the powers that be. That would be mainly parents, teachers, principals and bosses, but anyone and anything will do." Garfield goes on to say, "But it's not just that this campaign is mean-spirited and reckless and generally contemptible. It also ultimately makes no sense. Where does a multibillion-dollar division of PepsiCo come off dissing The Man? Dude, PepsiCo is The Man."
I'm not a huge fan of junk food for kids in the first place, but this particular marketing campaign strikes me as even more dangerous than the Cheetos themselves. What say you -- are you put off by marketing like this, or is it just a commercial?












ReaderComments (Page 1 of 19)
5-29-2008 @ 1:27PM
whistlepig said...didnt see the ad as being like that but im sure some kid somewhere has tried something with cheetos .when a kid does something like that just blame video games or music or tv .since parents dont have rolls anymore in the kids life
Reply
5-29-2008 @ 2:14PM
belinda said...Lovin' your reply, whistlepig!
5-29-2008 @ 9:29PM
Cathy said...Don't you mean roles instead of rolls?
5-29-2008 @ 9:32PM
Norma said...What about school? Children spend at least eight hours there, even if is a private school you don't get to choose what kind of children your sons or daughters are going to be hanging out with, there, they can get really bad ideas from them and even from themselves.
But if they all have a good family structure, got good principles, good moral, they'll be good to go in life. No matter who they hang with, what they're whatching or looking at, they will know what's right and wrong and they know what is expected from them. Every good or bad behavior starts and can end at HOME.
5-29-2008 @ 9:35PM
whistlepig said...got busted by the spelling police .yes roles ,you are correct
5-29-2008 @ 10:00PM
Vern said...If this kind of advertizing is ok, then why don't paint companys come out with an add to Buy our paint tagging will last longer.
5-29-2008 @ 10:06PM
Stevie Wonderr said...Wah Wah Wah, man talk about crying like a big baby.....might help to pay more attention to your kids and get off the couch and watch less TV!!! sheesh, people dieing in the East and your cryin' about ads and commercials! Get a life!
5-30-2008 @ 12:14AM
Dave said...I was bothered by this ad from the first time I saw it. I have a four-year-old I don't want picking this idea up. It is hard enough to keep a step ahead of him without amoral ads like this. I can control what programs my son or I watch, but I can't control what ads come on.
It is good to see it bothered others. Sorry to hear that whistlepig can't see that.
5-30-2008 @ 12:15AM
Heather said...WOW!!! I don't remember the last time I heard the words " I HATE " as much as I have in these postings. Don't we have enough violence and negativity in the world without adding to it by HATING practically everything anymore? Last time I checked, TV's and remotes came with an on/off button as well as MUTE. Try turning the TV off and spend more time with your kids. It actually works wonders when you are the childcare giver instead of the TV. We can't blame video games and the media for everything. We are supposed to be their role models. If we are not active and available in our children's lives, they will move on to the next most convenient thing......TV, video games and media... Go figure. We are to blame, the other things are just just easier to blame so that we can escape responsibility.
And to Cathy.....out of all the things that whistlepig said, you picked up on the fact that they misspelled a word??? What a sad little life you must have.....
5-30-2008 @ 12:37AM
staunchrepublican said...You know, this whole thing is absolutely ridiculous.....you have MTV pushing the gay agenda down our throats, not to mention sexually explicit videos, video games that glamourize killing and maiming others, news agencies that only report death and destruction around the globe, brother killing brother in the streets of America, and religious sects that are molesting innocent young girls. And you worry about what your kid is doing with a Cheeto?
Americans have become incesantly sensitive about everything. Where has the sense of humor gone in this country. Everybody get soooooo offended by everything. It's pathetic.
5-30-2008 @ 1:06AM
steph said...This is rediculus . Once again parents have way to much time on their hands!!I have a child and let me tell you we focus our attention on his grades , his activity level , and WHAT HE WATCHES , a commercial - that is oviously geared for teenagers or pre-teens should in no way affect your child ..if it does you have more to worry about than what he watches you should consider discussing with your child his or hers self-esteem and or the fact that TV and marketing in general should not be a suggestion as to how they live. Get a clue and quit blaming everything else for your inability to raise a productive child.
5-30-2008 @ 1:21AM
Ken said...Kids are already disrespectful enough of others and their belongings, it is in bad taste for Cheetos to encourage this bad behavior. Shame on them, lets find a healthy way to get our kids attention.
5-30-2008 @ 1:43AM
madeline rossi said...And why aren't parents role models or have more control over their kids? My girls primarily watch Disney Channel and other programs that are rated G. I am always talking to them about right and wrong and how we treat people. They are 8 and 5, we have talked about drugs and w/ my oldest about teen pregnancy.
5-30-2008 @ 1:57AM
jacknwolf said...OMG - can't anyone take a joke anymore? Why don't you take the commercial for what it is - a commercial - they are trying to sell a product! It appears they are targeting a young market (looks to me like males 16-24) The one that caught my eye was the woman on the plane and the cheetah wanted her to put the Cheeto in the air traveler's nose who is sleeping next to her. My thirteen year old laughed but I assure you, he would not do that to anyone - so I guess my 13 year old has more common sense than the writer of the article.
5-30-2008 @ 1:48AM
Karen said...Kids are going to get ideas from everywhere. If you don't let your kids to get ideas and make mistakes, then you stiffle their creativity and independence. The only way to keep kids from getting ideas from things or people, it to lock them in their rooms in a bubble without toys or television.
5-30-2008 @ 4:43AM
Jeff said...If parents would actually accept responsibility for raising their own children, these Cheetos ads wouldn't be an issue. It isn't the TV's responsibility to teach children good manners and proper behavior; it's the responsibility of the parents. Stop whining about some harmless, silly commercials that aren't even important in the grand scheme of things and spend some time with your children instead. Years from now, you'll be glad you did.
5-30-2008 @ 6:31AM
Bill said...Why do I get the feeling that, in his five years here on earth, little Johnny has seen far worse on TV than a silly looking cheetah coaxing a malleable girl into putting Cheetohs into a drier? Are the same complaints lodged when cartoon characters beat the living crap out of each other; or humiliate each other? I'm guessing not. If you're that concerned about this sudden threat to the decency of children everywhere, then this should give you the chance to actually be a parent, and explain to little Johnny why you feel it's wrong. And just to be on the safe side, the next time you go to a laundromat, frisk little Johnny for Cheetohs before going in.
5-31-2008 @ 9:01AM
Daisy said...It used to be that "sex sells" in advertising. Now, "vandalism sells"?
The people at Cheetos need to have their heads examined and their moral gyroscope inspected. The ad is outrageous and ethically should be removed from the air by Cheetos.
5-31-2008 @ 3:38PM
Kim said...I agree with you. My kids love Cheetos, too, but I refuse to buy them. Main reason is that they are full of carcinogenic junk and no food value at all. We eat snack foods and I'm not a health nut, but Cheetos are just vile. As are all the other "flavored" chips, etc. Potato chips with salt are only ones we eat.
5-31-2008 @ 8:48PM
cardlady said...You mean "negilgent parents", don't you, whistlepig?