Disney to Brand Fruit and Vegetables

Smart move Disney...now the question seems to be – who should brand fruits and vegetables to get adults on the action? How about NASCAR/Jessica Simpson for men and Brad Pitt/Estee Lauder for women.

Hmm... I'm torn on this one.

I'd rather see Disney and Viacom put their focuses into education more, rather than use a character to promote things. I know their "heart" is in the right place - just don't think their money is.

Why not support after school programs that teach children of ALL ages (considering the teen pregnancy rate in this country, they should start early!) about nutrition more than just with a health class and a faded 1950's black and white about how the digestive system works? Teach them how to "cook" (what, depending on their age group of course), and WHY. Teach them about heart disease, high cholesterol, and ALL the factors that go into a healthy lifestyle?

I recently asked my 10 year old godson what he thought about the "new" Ronald McDonald (promoting exercise and apple slices) and he shrugged his shoulders. When asked what he normally gets at McDonald's after the soccer game? Chicken nuggets, fries, and a coke. And maybe a cookie. A little bit goes nowhere, and cartoon-y characters don't properly affect ALL kids.

And like iFitandHealthy said - what is this going to do for adults? Sure, being adults, we should all "know better" - but even though we do, there's no fun in it, no incentive (except good health, but since when is that enough for everyone?), and nothing to draw us into spending our money or time making sure we are caring properly for our bodies.

I think Disney and Viacom should make full length feature films depicting one character who gets very ill because of his poor diet and lack of exercise, and how his friends all go around and learn about proper eating and how to make exercise a fun part of daily life, and he all of the sudden gets better - true Disney magic at its finest. Afterall, that damn Pooh has been eating nothing but honey his whole life, he's fat. (Gee, he and Eeyore are my favorite Disney characters... they're both fat and lazy, and so am I!)

Haha - maybe I should sue Disney for my being overweight. LOL

Anyway, I think this is little more than a bunch of people sitting in a boREDroom, with one who asks, "Okay all, how can we get in on this "healthy" kick like the rest of those cartoons out there?" Resulting in a flood of answers, one from the guy who secretly knew about SpongeBob's spinach takeover, piped up to say it was an original idea, and BAM! There we have yet another way to make the rich wealthier and convince the public that it's "all for you".

I think it's a smart move. They use cartoon characters to advertise junk to kids...fruit snacks, candy, sugared cereals, sodas, juice "drinks", etc. so why not use them to promote healthy stuff? Sounds good to me. I actually saw a TV special on food advertising and kids. They had kids choose between a cupcake with Spiderman on it and one with a star. They picked Spiderman almost every time. Then they had to choose between a banana covered with SpongeBob stickers and a cupcake. They picked the banana. Then they had to choose one or the other for breakfast: a plain banana or a ROCK covered with X-men stickers. They picked the rock. For breakfast. Now, I'm not saying kids are dumb, but it really does show how much power putting the right pictures on things has.

I love what Disney is doing right now and by pulling out of sponoring McDonalds. I also agree with what Lara was saying about they should rather be focing on education and not food products.

I think it's a great move to start promoting healthy food and not lending their brand support to junk food. I applaud it.

I love it, just love it. Children love cartoons and it's a great way to use whine factor for good. "Mom I want these carrots" :-) It's a great start.

Actually - I think this si a great idea.

It's about encouraging kids to eat better.

I think it could work well!

Yeah, that's just what we need- more corporate sponsorship, branded merchandise, and Mickey f-ing Mouse (on VEGETABLES, even!) God forbid we go a single day without making a purchase that's plastered all over with brand names.
How annoying!

It could be good. Just depends on how it's done. If the focus is on getting kids to eat a healthier diet then thats good. But if it's super expensive and they're using kids to make more cash, then I hope they get a big dose of fruit fly! :)

We have cartoon character apples here... they are exactly like other Gala apples, but smaller. It is not usually more expensive, in fact it is often cheaper than the bulk Gala apples, and it comes packed in a bag. I buy them sometimes.

There are also cartoon character reduced-fat turkey products, but those are twice the price as the one without the cartoon character. Makes you wonder how much markets make on those apples.

That is great! Having bug businesses promote healthy foods is a big step in the right direction. I find this very interesting to see how successful it is.

well.
i love them,infact im eating an apple now hahaa.
its a good ideaaa -x-