Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
rolled out the controversial Strong4Life in response to the 2011 Center for
Disease Control report ranking Georgia as the state with the second highest
childhood obesity rate in the country. The campaign features both commercials
and print advertisements, however they all feature overweight children
explaining why and how obesity has negatively affected their lives. The
advertisements are worthy of analysis because of the controversy of childhood
obesity, the campaigns approach to the topic of obesity, and the stigmatized
view of obese individuals produced by the advertisements.
The major findings in the
Strong4Life childhood obesity advertisements are as follows:
- The campaign features obese
children in their advertisements speaking directly to the camera. Like the
video above, the commercials promote a sad/negative depiction of obese children
as the prey of bullying. This stigma can cause overweight children to get
bullied more and/or influence individuals to start picking on overweight
children.
- The campaign’s use of black and
white images and simple, direct language allows the advertisements to reach
both young and old viewers. However, these tactics depict obesity as a problem
so simple that there is no excuse to be overweight. It attempts to shame
children into loosing weight.
- Strong4Life is placing blame on
obese children and their parents; this is seen especially in the advertisement below
featuring an overweight child and his mother. Pointing fingers at the parents of
obese children can have a negative effect on the mental health of the parents
and could cause a slew of parent-child tensions, including neglect toward of
harsher interactions with their child.
- The advertisements are clear about what health is not, however they do not tell viewers what health is. They lack a solution to the obesity problem and do not provide obese individuals with the tools needed to begin healthy lifestyle measures.
By using harsh generalizations of
obese children and placing blame on the children and their parents, the
campaign is hurting the very individuals that it aims to help.
Discussion Questions:
- What is your initial reaction to
the commercials? Do you feel sympathy for obese children? Disgust? Animosity?
- Do you think Strong4Life’s shock-and-awe,
in-your-face tactics harm or help Georgia’s children?
- Do these commercials change your
view of overweight individuals? If so, how?
- What do you think is the best way to redesign these advertisements to shame obese children less and entice them to seek a healthy lifestyle?
I believe that many people would see these commercials as successfully persuasive because of their shock-value. By the lack of color and music, these commercials are raw and in many ways disturbing. I agree that this campaign was more about raising awareness that there is a problem, and not raising awareness of how to fix it. I think it's interesting how you said that these ads in this campaign are doing more harm than good to the people whom it's trying to target. Whether that's true or not, I think that these ads definitely don't "sugarcoat" the obesity issue in the state of Georgia. I did my paper on Coca-Cola's anti-obesity campaign. I can see a major similarity between the two: they both try to place blame on other factors. In reality, there are multiple factors that can contribute to obesity, but recent anti-obesity campaigns try to find simple scapegoats. I think this is reflective of our society's obsession with finding quick-fixes to our problems. The fact that the Strong4Life campaign commercials place blame on parents, videogames, etc. just shows how our culture strives to place blame on the easiest target in order to try to find a solution.
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction was definitely shock because the commercials are harsh and to the point. I feel symphony towards the kids because they are so young and already dealing with low self confidence and getting bullied. I am not blaming the parents for making their children obese, but allowing your child to play video games every day and feeding them unhealthy food is more the parents fault. As a child, I followed what my parents said and ate what they gave me for dinner whether I liked it or not. They made me try different sports because when you are young you cannot make as many decisions for yourself. I do not look at heavier people in a different way and I feel that these commercials should have had more emotional language in them to provide less disgust. These commercials could have shown more parents talking instead of blaming obesity only on children.
ReplyDeleteI think that the shock value of these commercials will definitely garner attention. As Catherine mentioned, they are extremely raw. However, I agree that it only raises awareness that obesity exists in Georgia, not how to address it or prevent it. While the commercial seems to strive to portray the children as victims, that message isn't executed. Instead, I saw a message of health as the individual's responsibility. The slogan "stop sugarcoating it" makes obesity seem like a simple choice made by an individual that can be easily "stopped." As with Thornton's discussion of brain health, individuals are responsible for maintaining their own health and parents are directly in charge of shaping their babies' brains (and overall health) from day one.
ReplyDeleteI don't personally feel its fair to place blame, give sole responsibility, and criticize children, or even their parents, for their obesity issues without offering explanations of how to rectify the situation and prevent it in the future. In my opinion, education is a huge part of health, but with the current functioning of society, as demonstrated by this campaign, not only is health an individual responsibility, but so is acquiring the knowledge to be healthy. This seems to create huge expectations for each member of society, which can actually have an effect opposite of the desired. This intense pressure creates anxiety and stress that can inhibit progress toward health of any kind.
The commercial immediately received my attention from the lack of music and color. It was short and to the point. For me, the second commercial was more emotional and allowed me to feel more sympathetic. The child asked why he was fat directly to the camera. In the first commercial, the child talked about playing video games, but when he mentioned getting picked on by other kids, the camera was no longer on him. It would have been more emotionally appealing if the child said he was getting picked on by kids to the cameral, allowing the audience to see his face.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I always have a sympathetic spot for overweight children. However, I do not like how these ads put the blame on someone or something else. Blaming others is not going to fix the problem. I think it would have been better if these ads were coupled with ways of prevention or changing of the bad habits that lead to obesity. I think the Play60 campaigns are really effective in educating children about staying healthy, and making the kids want to be healthy, too.
These series of commercials, which I discovered on my own while researching an ad for the ad analysis paper, caught my attention immediately. At first, I was pleased to see a campaign aiming for the prevention of childhood obesity in Georgia in such a serious manner, but once I watched a couple of the commercials, I realized how much of a negative message they send to the public. I agree that it sends the wrong message to families that actually have obese children because of how the children are portrayed in the commercials. The first commercial had a greater affect on me because of the obese boy talking directly into the camera. Some might say playing video games by himself has caused his obesity, which can be true. Others, however, might say he plays video games majority of the time because he has no friends and cannot do what they do because he is obese (ie sports, play outside, etc.).
ReplyDeleteBoth of these commercials give the wrong message in some ways, but they do make it known that Georgia has a childhood obesity problem. I am happy that this campaign attempted to help and educate the state on the problem of childhood obesity, but I do not think it helped as much as it could. I hope another campaign is produced that can have a true impact on the obesity in Georgia and hopefully help those that are obese get their families healthy.
Honestly, my initial reaction is that I feel like crying. I feel sorry for these children. They are not old enough to fully understand the importance of healthy eating. I feel like it’s not their fault that they are fat. Clearly, they don’t know any better as we can see in the second video. It’s their parent’s doing, even though it’s not intentional. It is the parents’ responsibility to look out for their child on this matter and teach them healthy eating. More importantly, they are the ones who buy the food that the child will eat so it is very sad to me that they let it get so bad. To be fair, they may not know how to eat healthy themselves, or be able to afford the food. I think that the shock and awe tactics help children because it shows their parents and other adults just how real the issue is and that it needs attention. I don’t think it has much of an effect on children, but in my opinion, it doesn’t need to reach them at that age as much as it needs to reach the parents of these children.
ReplyDeleteIt changes my view about overweight children in that I realize that it’s really not entirely their fault. When they get older, I think they can be held more responsible, but if they aren’t learning the right steps from their parents, how are they expected to be any different. It also changes my view on over weight adults. They definitely more aware that a healthy diet is needed for a healthy body and I don’t think it is fair for a child to suffer from their bad choices. Obviously, it is a different story if there is some kind of medical issue. I don’t necessarily think that they are shaming the children. In the second video, I think that they are more shaming the mother because they make the boy see innocent. I guess they could show children with all body types playing together to make the message apply to everyone.
I have a problem with these ads, especially the first one because they assume its a bad thing to be obese. Sure, there are harmful health side effects that come from being overly overweight, such as diabetes, high blood sugar, yada yada yada. We hear that stuff all the time. There are harmful health side effects to almost all of the fun things, and really you have to choose your battles. Given that a good amount of Americans are obese, I'd say a good amount don't really care that people think they're fat. Everyone has different interests, attitudes and beliefs. Some people prefer organic heirloom tomatoes, while others are good with flaming hot cheetoes. Some feel accomplished through training for a half-marathon, while other get the same thrill by hitting level 60 in World of Warcraft. We're all different. Just because someone is obese doesn't mean there's something wrong with them as a person. At this point in America, it is common knowledge that eating a lot and not moving will make you gain weight. The real problem comes from an entire group of people being victimized when there's not something wrong with them. The worst part about being obese has got to be the judgement, not the diabetes.
ReplyDeleteThis commercial is harsh to a fault. While it is true that, in some cases, shock value can increase the effectiveness of an ad, past a certain point it merely causes its intended audience to engage in avoidance maneuvers in order to block out information that is unpleasant to them. This is particularly true if their obesity is genuinely caused by factors outside of their control, such as an illness or a lack of available sources of healthy foods. The additional lack of information on how these children can lose weight is also disheartening, because it leaves these children with a problem they don't know how to fix. They are left with a deep-seated sense of shame and guilt for a problem that is not entirely their fault. How could these children know that their lifestyle was unhealthy given the prevalence of fast-food options both in the media and in our every-day reality? These commercials only exacerbate the problems surrounding obesity.
ReplyDelete1. Wow! These commercials are horrible! I’m honestly shocked and horrified that these exist. My initial reaction was definitely sadness and sympathy.
ReplyDelete2. I think Strong4Life’s tactics probably do more damage than help to Georgia’s children. Overweight and obese individuals generally do not flaunt their body type, nor are they confident about their status. Shaming them, then, certainly does not seem like an effective method... ESPECIALLY when attempting to rid the problem of childhood obesity. I truly cannot imagine a single child or overweight adult watching one of these advertisements and thinking to themselves, “Wow! What a wake up call! I need to lose weight!” Rather, I think these ads are more likely to cause such individuals to take action to deal with the shame that they feel, which may very well be done by eating.
3. Not really. Although weight is something I think about for myself personally, I’ve never been one to judge others for their body type. In fact, I’ve seen individuals and family members that I’m very close to struggle to lose and maintain weight, and thus I’ve seen firsthand how much of a struggle weight loss can truly be. If anything, these commercials cause me to sympathize further with obese and overweight individuals, because it’s just another form of criticism and judgment that they have to deal with.
4. I think the best way to target obese children is through education, encouragement, and enthusiasm. Advertisements should aim to show children that exercising and being healthy is fun! I envision an advertisement with bright colors, giggling, children, fruit... basically the polar opposite of those produced by Strong4Life. Somebody get these off the air!
I think the commercials do exactly what the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta wanted them to do. They mean business. They are strong. They hurt a little bit. I think that is the point. I do have sympathy for the children. However, I do not have sympathy for them because of the commercials, but rather because of their reality. I think it is important to consider why in the world Children's Healthcare of Atlanta thought it was important to provide such a strong, intense campaign about children's obesity. They know the medical statistics behind it. They know the staunch realities of obese children.
ReplyDeleteI think the Strong4Life commercials help children. Look at us now, we are still talking about children's obesity; that is the point. The Children's Healthcare of Atlanta wanted to wake up people to the reality and significance of children's obesity. Do we really think the commercial hurt kids feelings as bad as the implications of childhood obesity does?
I feel sympathy for the children in the commercial for the shaming factor that is clearly taking place in these commercials. I don't think Strong4Life’s shock-and-awe tactic was intended to be harmful, but I could see how it could bring a child that happens to see this commercial to question their weight/health without an explanation of why being fit is good for them. I believe these ads would have been better if they provided a solution instead of pointing out the problem and leaving it at that. Like someone already mentioned, the Play60 commercials show a solution for childhood obesity, and a fun one at that.
ReplyDeleteI honestly like these ads. Our society has become soft, and we try to protect everyone's feelings from being hurt. I completely agree with the harshness of the message because it is a harsh reality to face. Although I do feel sympathy for the kids because they don't know any better. Most children that are obese do not understand why they are. They are not mature enough to think about the consequences of their diet and levels of physical activity. And yes, I completely understand that there are other factors that attribute to weight in children, but it is the parents job to keep their child healthy. And I believe that is exactly who these ads are targeting. Like someone commented above, my diet as a child was what my parents gave me to eat, whether I thought it was good or not. And the same goes for my physical activity. If I had been inside all day watching tv or playing video games, then it was guaranteed that when my dad found out when he got home that I was going to be going outside to do something. Whether to just walk around the block, throw the ball, play with the dog, help him with some chores he had in the yard, etc. it didn't matter. I was not going to sit around and do nothing for the entire day. It is the duty of the parents to realize unhealthy habits that are forming in children. I will say that the ad may have been more affective if there was a solution mentioned, some informative piece on how to prevent or reduce childhood obesity, but overall, this message did exactly what it intended to and I commend them for doing it.
ReplyDelete