He’s the animated ogre who taught kids to love their appearance—no matter what. He was a hit on the big screen and was later adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to be a health advocate. But, now the green guy’s role with the department may be in jeopardy.
A children’s advocacy group wants the Department of Health and Human Services to strip Shrek of his role as spokesperson (spokes-ogre) for an anti-obesity drive. Executives with the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood say the latest Shrek movie–“Shrek the Third”—which is scheduled to be released next month, has too many promotional ties with junk foods to justify using the ogre as a healthy role model. The group maintains there is a conflict of interest between the marketing of junk food and the promotion of public health, and they are pressuring members of Health and Human Services to find another advocate.
“Surely Health and Human Services can find a better spokesperson for healthy living than a character who is a walking advertisement for McDonald’s, sugary cereals, cookies and candy,” an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School said in a statement to the media.
The group’s pleas seem to be falling on deaf ears. According to a Health and Human Services’ spokesman, the department had no intention of giving Shrek the boot nor do they plan to halt the public service ads they launched in February.
Have you seen the ads? They feature the stout ogre and his friends (other characters from the movie) encouraging children to exercise for at least an hour a day. The ads are part of a bigger campaign, which seeks to curtail childhood obesity.
I can see why the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood– a nationwide coalition, which monitors marketing, aimed at children—would be concerned. After all, Shrek has promotional deals with dozens of food products, including Snickers and M&M’s candy, Pepsi, Pop-Tarts, Cheez-Its and Keebler cookies. The new movie also has a tie-in with McDonald’s (there will be Shrek-themed promotions of Happy Meals). This begs the question (in the minds of some): Why would young children follow Shrek’s advice about healthy living and ignore his connection with candy and Pop-Tarts?
“If government agencies are serious about combating childhood obesity, they should stop cozying up to industry and start taking real steps to end the barrage of junk food marketing aimed at children,” coalition members argue.
Regardless, the government agency remains steadfast to their belief that Shrek is the perfect fit for their campaign. They contend that he is a popular character and is being used to promote a healthy diet, “which doesn’t necessarily exclude the occasional treat.” What’s more, the Health and Human Services spokesperson reminded parents that the public services ads were using Shrek to promote exercise, not foods.
“Shrek is a good model, especially for children who can benefit from more exercise,” the spokesperson said. “He doesn’t have a perfect physique, he’s not a great athlete. … We hope children will understand that being physically fit doesn’t require being a great athlete.”
Do you think that Shrek should get the boot?
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