Atkins fads, large coorporations, advertising and ideas??

[Guest guest]

Have you guys noticed that lately - EVERY page and email message

(including, potentially, the one you are reading now, AND the one just posted by

Rich), ironically in our case, us being a veg group, have the Atkins advertising

attached to them...?

 

The question is, why Atkins is getting such fame, and where do the budgets come

from to finance this huge advertising campaign that no doubt created this latest

fad?

 

What does his company stand to gain? Atkins himself is dead. So it's the

shareholders of his company. More people buying the book? Books are cheap, that

can't be the only thing to gain. I have a strong suspicion that this campaign is

being heavily financed by the meat/dairy industries, who are probably share

holders. It was a sudden surge AFTER his death. Coincidence? Any insights? It's

really scary...

 

Does someone know how much it costs to advertise as they do on ? Maybe the

large soy foods comapnies (Pacific, Eden, etc) and companies like cascadian

farms, could be enlisted together with Dean Ornish and McDougall...? I am SURE

that with enough correct advertising out there (Imagine, every email has

an attachment stats about heart diseases and dean Ornishes study, veganism and

cholesterol studies, etc) - VEGANISM would be the fad.

 

We have something to learn from how the Atkins company is conducting business.

 

They say there are at most 6 deg of sepeation b/w everyone of the planet....

Does somebody on this list know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebdoy

who would know how to approach the large health food corp about starting an

aggressive advertising campaign, that would be supported by our local doctors

(Ornish and McDougall), and countless studies? Maybe John Robbins could help

with ideas and contacts. Any ideas how to get in touch with him? We'd need a

direct line, emailing him through the web site is probably not strong enough.

 

I can probably contact Ornish and McDougall. We'd need someone to coordinate the

corporate side though...

 

IDEAS? ANYBODY???

 

 

 

 

richard_ganis <rsganis wrote:

New health food stores: Granola is out, pork is in

Atkins diet inspires Bay Area no-carb outlets

 

Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, July 27, 2003

 

A new kind of health food store is sprouting up all over the Bay Area,

and the hottest products on the shelves are the cinnamon-butter pork

rinds.

 

As proof that the Atkins diet craze is spreading like zero-carb syrup

on a whey protein pancake, special shrines are being created for the

exploding number of devoted carbohydrate-dodgers -- culinary safe

havens where the snack chips are soy and the soda is sugar-free Diet

Rite. Some vegetables are forbidden fruit.

 

Full story:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/07/27/MN2\

37207.DTL

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Tal,

The pessimist in me (that I'm trying to supress) says " we need money. Money that

we don't have. We can't compete with greed, blind self-indulgence and

ignorance. " But I love your energy for this topic and I'm compelled to encourage

the conversation.

 

Your questions are very interesting - it would behoove the meat/dairy industries

to invest in the Atkins diet. I *hate* seeing their ads on . I hate seeing

Atkins products at my health food store. It's like going into a restaurant

only to find they have a tank of live lobsters. It makes me sick and I don't

want to give them (my precious local health food store) my money.

 

If we got $1,000 from every large health food corporation that supports

veganism... or $10,000... plus $100 or $1,000 from every vegan... plus

volunteers to create the advertisements... could we even come close to creating

a campaign as ubiquitious as Atkins'?

 

Could we make a huge shift in the Atkins-focused mental landscape? As the

Adbusters' magazine editor would claim, it's challenging to get educational ads

out there when Big Meat/Dairy are paying the media's paychecks. But it's great

for publicity when a media outlet rejects an ad!

 

Or would we be faced with big organizations like PeTA, Physicians Committee for

Responsible Medicine, etc. saying " we already do this. " ?

 

~Caity

They say there are at most 6 deg of sepeation b/w everyone of the planet....

Does somebody on this list know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebdoy

who would know how to approach the large health food corp about starting an

aggressive advertising campaign, that would be supported by our local doctors

(Ornish and McDougall), and countless studies? Maybe John Robbins could help

with ideas and contacts. Any ideas how to get in touch with him? We'd need a

direct line, emailing him through the web site is probably not strong enough.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

> IDEAS? ANYBODY???

[sfBAVeg] Atkins fads, large coorporations, advertising and ideas??

 

 

All I can think is how our society is trained to be consumer and fad

oriented. That's what's making the Atkins diet successful. We need to

dress up veganism like a trendy fad and produce attractive consumer oriented

items for purchasing popularity. That's not cynicism talking; that's

reality folks. The people marketing Atkins' diet are interested in making

money, NOT in making people healthy.

 

Marcy