09/26/2007

Larry Craig Scandal Becomes Meme for Hidden Corruption

Showing there's more than one kind of pig in a bathroom stall, this ad from Stop Childhood Obesity Now that calls for Farm Bill reform takes advantage of the Larry Craig scandal to get its point across quite effectively.

From their site: "It may surprise you to learn that the federal government buys up millions of dollars worth of bacon, burgers, and fatty meat and dairy products and dumps them in our schools and food assistance programs. This practice persists, in part, because companies making these unhealthy products give millions of dollars to members of Congress through political action committees. Until these practices end, stopping childhood obesity will remain a difficult challenge."

Posted 9:28 AM EST by Andy in Advertising, Larry Craig, News | Permalink

Like it?

Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!

RECENT STORIES:

• Ian McKellen: Please Don't Call Me 'Sir' or 'Dumbledore'

• Suspects Arraigned in Gang Rape of Lesbian in Richmond

• News: Larry Craig, TB, Wicked, White House, Seacrest, Twitter

• Book Tackles Football, Undies, and Moisture Management Systems

• Towleroad Guide to the Tube #408

Comments

1. I liked the ad. Larry Craig is quite a creepy rock star!

   Posted by: Rafael | Sep 26, 2007 10:00:35 AM

   
   

2. Yeah, I'm not sure about this ad. Craig's pretty creepy, and I don't mind the idea of using his scandal in advertising as a way of pointing out hypocrisy, but this particular ad seems a little strained. I'm not sure it does much to address childhood obesity.

   Posted by: Brian | Sep 26, 2007 10:46:00 AM

   
   

3. This ad is wholly false and pretty offensive to family farmers like my grandpa...but God bless free speech.

   Posted by: Benjamin | Sep 26, 2007 10:51:30 AM

   
   

4. Yeah, it's an animal rights group fronting as a health group. The reason they don't like bacon? It's not vegan! That's their agenda.

   Posted by: stebbins | Sep 26, 2007 11:22:00 AM

   
   

5. OK, the ad made me giggle a bit. What's not so funny is that the sponsoring group, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, receives money from PETA and has tried to get rid of milk in lunch programs as well. Doesn't matter if foods are fatty or not - if they come from animals, they're BAD. I have no problem with promoting vegetarianism as a healthy lifestyle. But the lack of transparency in promoting their agenda is appalling. This group has absolutely no credibility, IMHO.

   Posted by: BD | Sep 26, 2007 11:24:25 AM

   
   

6. Agricultural subsides are almost universally derided but manage to re-appear annually like songbirds. Ironically, many of the groups that protest federal policy and corporate welfare are themselves the beneficiaries of govt. grant monies. It would take some serious political reforms to eliminate wasteful/harmful govt. programs. Awareness is not really the issue.

   Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Sep 26, 2007 12:32:11 PM

   
   

7. Benjamin, While I do take some issues with who is making this ad, would you care to elaborate on how it is "offensive to family farmers" because the ad pretty specifically only criticizes factory farms that pay off congress to get their products in schools. That practice is just as detremental to family farms as it is to the health of children.

   Posted by: lambman | Sep 27, 2007 2:00:07 AM

   
   

8. Missed opportunity! It would have been so much funnier if the guy had taken the money, then handed a bunch of strips of bacon back under the bathroom partition.

   False sentimentality about "family farmers" covers up a form of subsidies that devalue agricultural products and maintain American farmers in a state of permanent dependence. That kind of corruption doesn't really do your Grandpa any favors.

   Posted by: thin mint | Sep 27, 2007 3:30:16 AM

   
   

Post a comment