Coca-Cola Tries to Avoid Blame For Obesity With Infographic, Advertising
Yes, calories from soda are the number four source of calories in the American diet. But you wouldn't know that from the recent Coca-Cola infographic.
Coca-Cola launched an infographic that blames the obesity epidemic on just about everything but Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola has recently been criticized by activists concerned about obesity, and Wednesday the company outlined its global commitments to fight obesity. Those commitments included offering low- or no-calorie beverages in every market, providing nutritional information on the front of every package, supporting programs encouraging physical activity, and not advertising its products to children under 12, reports MSN Money.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest was not impressed.
"Coca-Cola's campaign is a campaign to sell more Coca-Cola, and not a campaign to combat obesity," Jeff Cronin, a CSPI spokesman, told MSN Money, adding that the company is trying to head off government restrictions on soda sales. "Coke's main problem is that its core product causes obesity, diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay, gout, and other health problems. Those problems can't be advertised away."
The recent Coca-Cola would seem to have it otherwise.
The graphic displays only top-calorie sources one through three: "grain-based deserts," "chicken dishes," and "breads."
Soda is conspicuously absent from Coca-Cola's visual list.
"Calorie imbalance" is cited as the force behind what's "weighing us down," but the faux-educational posted fails to account for important health differences between the type of calories consumed.
It proclaims instead that "Weight Management Is All About Balance," and "Calories In = Calories Out."
But not all foods and beverages are created equal. Calories from soda are empty calories with little nutritional value or health benefits, such as the benefits you get from eating whole foods.
The poster was launched as part of Coca-Cola's "Coming Together" campaign, aiming to help consumers make smarter choices when it comes to their food and beverages.