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November 04, 2009

Attention Media: Quit fucking trying to terrify parents.

Immunityx

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. Am I sick and tired of the media's constant attempts to scare the shit out of us. The latest target: Rice Krispies. Seems they've got an added antioxidant claim on their box. (Antioxidants, if you didn't know, are being pimped hard lately because they theoretically help keep you from getting sick by strengthening your immune system.)

But what really chaps my hide about this situation is this quote from a USA TODAY article.

"Kellogg, based in Battle Creek, Mich., said it has heard very little concern from consumers about the claim, but is responding to concerns in the media about the timing of this front-of-the-box claim and the swine flu outbreak."

So what the media is saying, I guess, is that consumers may get confused into thinking that if they feed Rice or Cocoa Krispies to their children, the little ones won't be susceptible to H1N1 (from now on referred to as "The Hinny") thanks to the added AOX.

"Very little concern" from consumers. But the media went and made a stink, getting their column inches and their way. (If you're looking for journalistic integrity somewhere in here, you'll need to keep on looking.) Now Kellogg is bowing to the pressure and is removing the claims from their packages, a lengthy and costly proposition to be sure. It's Rice Krispies for shit's sake -- they've got a few boxes of cereal out there.

So, to recap – consumers don't seem to be worried about it but some media outlet can run a nothing story and end up costing a corporation hundreds of thousands of dollars and likely a good amount of negative PR.

Seems like a load of partially-digested Krispies to me.

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