Posted on 07/02/2011 9:26:20 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
FTC Defends Proposed Child-Food Marketing Rules Critics Say Could Kill 'Tony the Tiger' Friday, July 01, 2011 By Fred Lucas
(CNSNews.com) – The Federal Trade Commission is defending its proposals to change food and beverage marketing to children ages 2-17, which industry and legal critics say would lead to the end of iconic commercial characters such Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam and create free speech issues.
The proposed “voluntary” guidelines for marketing food resulted from the Interagency Working Group made up of representatives of the FTC, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The report was opened for comment in April, and public comment closes on July 14.
The report is merely a report to Congress and is not an enforceable regulation, said David Vladeck, director of the bureau of consumer protection for the FTC, in a FTC blog post Friday.
“But we’ve heard amped up stories claiming to know what this project is ‘really’ about and suggesting that the agencies are trying to ban almost all food marketing to kids and punish food companies that don’t adhere strictly to the principles,” Vladeck said. “Frankly, these folks might want to switch to decaf.”
Vladeck stressed that the guidelines would not violate the First Amendment, as critics charged.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
More government parenting?
Because they are leftists and work for Obama I can see why people would assume they are doing that.
Tony the Tiger has done more for this country than any politician or bureaucrat has done.
No food can make a "meaningful contribution to a healthful diet" if kids don't want to eat it.
Just Grrreat!
Is there any proof whatsoever that marketing foods *some* people don’t think kids should eat in any way contributes to obesity or other health problems?
Even if there were, is it really anyone’s business outside of the family how and what those kids eat?
The myriad ways in which liberals are trying to control lives are astounding. Did the dictators of the Soviet Union take this much interest in running the day to day lives of their subjects?
At the rate we’re going there will soon be a “government bureaucrat” in each aisle handing out “approved” literature and directing us to the “government recommended” health foods.
Just change Tony`s little neckerchief from red to pink, then Kelloggs can say getting rid of him would be a hate crime. Make Toucan Sam an angry lesbian bird in a committed relationship with the Swiss Miss chick. Problem solved.
How many more jobs will this increase in the regulatory environment destroy?
Justice Thomas and I seem to be the only two people in the country who think it's BS ~ the market place quickly tosses out those who lie too much about their products, and politicians get to lie all the time.
So, what we have currently is a situation where Tony The Tiger can be regulated regarding what he says about cereal, and if it's truthful, that's OK. This proposal, though, is not about truthful statements concerning products ~ it's about the nature of the product itself, and the regulators want us to believe that it is BAD and UNHEALTHFUL and DANGEROUS ~
Current law doesn't allow you to regulate truthful speech just because the item being advertised is bad for you. After all, some things are OK for most people, but not all.
The FTC, et al (all the usual running dog lackeys) will need to go to Congress to get enabling legislation for this (not likely), and even if they had it they'd have to run it by the Supreme Court. It's not likely the Supreme Court is going to be able to change current law. The Leftwingtards would fear change; the Republicans will stand by protecting the rights of commercial enterprise to advertise, and Judge Thomas would vote to remove ALL speech restrictions.
That'd leave the vote 8 to 1.
In Communism all brands are Generic and there is no advertising needed.
If they want foods heavily marketed to children (bread, cereal, twinkies) to make a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet and minimize content that could have a negative impact, they'll need to prohibit the marketing of bread, cereal and other grain products containing wheat, barley or rye, AND anything with dairy or dairy byproduct! That would include, BTW, MILK.
It's an insane ambition not practicable in the United States today, or in the future.
This sort of nonsense makes me doubt the educational credentials of the people who inhabit such "groups".
Translation: The US Constitution is an archaic anachronism that we can disregard at will.
***Tony the Tiger has done more for this country than any politician or bureaucrat has done.***
Yep! And I used to get good gas milage with a tiger in my tank!
A tracking number of 00243 has been assigned on: 7/2/2011 1:13:12 PM. Please print this page for your records. (GMT offset: 240) ~ go to https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/foodmarketedtochildreniwg/Default.aspx to post your comment. If I’m only #243, you can be #244, 245, etc. FREEP THIS PROPOSAL
Democrats are schizophrenic about the authority issue. They always accuse conservatives of being authoritarian, but no conservative supports the endless list of government mandates and prohibitions advocated by liberals. Here in Seattle, for example, you need the city government’s permission to cut down a tree on your own property.
Don’t “F” with the Tiger. If anybody does, America will really hate them.
Anything that brings a chuckle, a laugh, a smile or quiet contentment is something that they try to wipe out.
The only thing like like are sneers and bitter mockery of things they could never create. They have even sucked all the fun out of sex. Yes, they want you to mindlessly hump everything you can but there is no fun in it.
What a joyless bunch!
In loco nanniensis.
The folks in government want more than anything to take charge of everything in order to make over the nation in their own image; it’s a form of regressed perpetual adolescence.
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