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Don't be Fooled by Pepsi's Deceptive Marketing Tricks

PepsiCo has created an official "government looking" symbol that they place on products they deem especially "healthy." The "Smart Spot" symbol is a green circle with a white check mark, surrounded by the slogan "Smart Choices Made Easy."

Pepsi's "Smart Spot" Web site touts that they are "committed to helping Americans lead healthier lives," by supplying them with the means of quickly and efficiently being able to identify "smarter choices."

The "Smart Spot" symbol is an official-looking seal of approval reminiscent of the Heart Association's check mark symbol.

SmartSpot.com

Associated Content May 22, 2007


Dr. Mercola's Comment:

This symbol is surely bound, and intended, to confuse many. It is colored a healthy green, and designed to make you think that you are consuming something healthy.

But don't be fooled. Products displaying the Smart Spot symbol meet nutrition criteria based on FDA standards and recommendations that have already proven to be ruled by the almighty dollar, rather than concern for your welfare.

"Smart Spot" products include over a hundred products like tooth-eroding Gatorade, aspartame-laden Diet Pepsi drinks, and heavily processed snacks.

Aspartame is one of the most dangerous substances added to foods, with side effects like migraines, seizures, nausea, weight gain, depression, and insomnia, just to mention a handful out of about 90 recorded health problems. Aspartame is also one of the culprits in triggering chronic illnesses like brain tumors, Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

Baked! Lay's also carry the "Smart" symbol, as it meets the "healthy" criteria of being cholesterol and trans fat free, with 1.5 grams of fat. Of course, this completely ignores the dangerous levels of the cancer-causing chemical acrylamide in these chips.

Leading you to believe you're doing something beneficial to your health by chomping on potato chips or chugging down Diet Pepsi is beyond irresponsible.

However, remember that the responsibility of multi-national food giants is NOT to you, but to their shareholders. Their goal is to make a profit. Of course, they realize that if they really harm you that will jeopardize their long-term profits, but most of these giants cannot see beyond the profits of the current quarter. Long-term consequences are a foreign concept to most of them.

Fortunately, you don't have to be fooled and deceived, because this newsletter helps to serve as an advance warning for most of the deceptive ploys that they will seek to fool you with.

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Comment on This Article Community Comments (49)
 
 
Posted On May 24, 2007
Pepsi is currently having a can design contest.

I was thinking of submitting an entry that might include the poison skull and crossbone sticker, surgeon general's warning, and a couple of other misc. danger symbols.

Do you think it will win?

 
nanciesweb
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 6/2006
nanciesweb  
Replied

Lynn46
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 12/2006
Lynn46  
 
Posted On May 25, 2007
nanciesweb,
Yeah, if you're not careful, you might win a free (and secretive) trip to a dark holding room somewhere by a couple of grim-looking guys in dark suits and wrap-around shades!!
Just kidding around here...


MarikaB
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 4/2007
MarikaB  
 
Posted On May 25, 2007
This may be a little off topic........but it is about DECEPTIVE INGREDIENTS in soaps....

this is about soap products that claim to be "organic" when they are not, 'natural' where there is nothing of that sort YET they have it written on the label.........companies like "nature's gate", JASON.......

watch the interesting video explaining.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6E19OUBNhM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ehempreport%2Ecom%2F


Reesacat
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 1/2007
Reesacat  
 
Posted On May 25, 2007
MarikaB-thank you!  I had been using some of those products and found
the video to be very informative. 

 
 
 
Posted On May 23, 2007
Pepsico is to food or beverage what Monsanto is to GMO and cancer causing petro chemicals. 

In both cases their products harm any health.

 
Russ Bianchi
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 9/2006
Russ Bianchi  
Replied

C Ed Wright
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2007
C Ed Wright  
 
Posted On Jun 07, 2007
You forgot to include The Coca Cola Bottling Company in that category; the Frick & Frack, the Tweedle Dumb & Tweedle Dumber, the Sacco & Vanzetti, of the junk food industry.

 
 
 
Posted On Jun 07, 2007
"Diet soda may double your risk of obesity".  There is no "MAY" about it.  I am living proof that diet sodas doubles the risk of obesity.  I was a total fan of Pepsi.  I could have been a Pepsi poster girl.  Three and four and six a day and maybe more.  I drank Pepsi instead of water.  Now I"m paying the price.  I was a petite, slender, gorgeous young girl and now I am a fat, ugly old lady.  We all ought to visit the Pepsico site and leave our own personal message that the smart spot campaign is a total lie and a joke.  At least they will know there are those who don't believe Pepsi is good food. :) lol  These people are laughing all the way to the bank.  I struggle everyday to learn how to reverse the damage I cause myself believing the commercial hype.  I worked in a store that sold soda pop and was absolutely floored when these women would talk about their blood sugar being down and they needed a soft drink and a candy bar to get it back to normal.  I wanted to scream at them, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING"?  Then I have to deal with doctors who want to load me up with drugs to address my health problems.  I don't think so.

 
Rett
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 11/2006
Rett  
Replied

C Ed Wright
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2007
C Ed Wright  
 
Posted On Jun 07, 2007
Reminds me of some 30 years ago, before I ever heard of sugar addiction, when I used to drink at least one 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew (don't remember which of the Big Two makes it, doesn't matter since they're interchangeable anyway) every day.  Did I gain weight?  Do lawyers Lie?  Until I filled a 6 ounce Dixie cup and let it somewhere for about two weeks then rediscovered it.  It was now only half full, and like caramel:  Solid syrup that barely moved at all, almost as slowly as window glass flows downward over a century or two.  Yikes!

So I cut it out, switched to iced tea (still way too much sugar but not all day anymore), also cut out the couple donuts I had as a snack before dinner, and doing absolutely nothing else different, lost 30 pounds in 30 days without even trying to lose weight.

But hey, it's "government approved"...


Lynn46
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 12/2006
Lynn46  
 
Posted On Jun 07, 2007
Rett,
Don't be so hard on yourself. Pretty much most of us over a certain age were harmed by so many food and beverage products in the 1970's, 80's, and 90's, not to mention all the lies coming from government agencies and the mainstream media.

But the Internet arrived and eventually we found mercola.com, and we are all vastly better for what we have learned here.

You describe yourself as a "fat, ugly old lady." Absolutely not, you are a curious, intelligent, wise lady. Please don't think of yourself as a "fat, ugly old lady." That kind of thought process is very counterproductive to your recoverning your health. You are getting better every day--that is how you should view yourself.

Stay true to yourself and have faith in your own wisdom and people will see you as beautiful.


Lynn46
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 12/2006
Lynn46  
 
Posted On Jun 07, 2007
C Ed Wright,
One way to get more of the sugar out of your diet is to use stevia in your iced tea (recommended by Dr. Mercola). You can buy it in health food stores. I use it in my coffee and tea, and I like it.

Give it a shot--every little improvement in your diet is one more little step towards a better life with better health. 


C Ed Wright
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2007
C Ed Wright  
 
Posted On Jun 08, 2007
RE: Lynn46's Sub Comment:

I cut out the iced tea too, sometime later.  Notice I said before I heard of sugar addiction.  Elsewhere I mentioned I now squeeze half a lemon into a mug of green tea, and that's all it needs.  Also (elsewhere) I mentioned ordering "lemon water with extra lemon wedges" when eating out, since the only restaurant alternative is "soft drinks" either loaded with sugar or HFCS, or chemically "sweetened".

Once in a while I'll have for example a cold Snapple, or a can of soda with ice, but it's been a rare choice not a habit, for a long time now.  Generally I just don't care for sweets anymore, except once in a while, like a creamsickle from the musical icecream truck on a hot evening.  Maybe it's Pavlovian, but it's a rare treat.

One reason I rarely drink coffe is I hate it without lots of sugar, although once in a great while I'll have a Frappucino.

Good advice, though, for anyone craving sweets while overcoming SA.  I'd still recommend lemon juice because it's actually beneficial and neutralizes the bitterness of tea.

 
 
 
Posted On Jun 07, 2007
The Australian "Heart Foundation" gave McDonalds the "Heart Foundation tick of approval" for a range of McDonalds meals, including meals containing Big Mac's quarter pounders etc.

Under public scrutiny (Australians needed convincing, which I found positive), the Heart Foundation explained that it was because these meals were more heart healthy that "the traditional meal".

Substitute a Big Mac, large fries and Large Coke for a Big Mac, salad and orange juice, pay a little fee (or a large one), and you can claim your food as heart healthy.

(and most importantly, by getting in first, no-one else in fast food can get the tick, regardless of what they offer).

 
Steve M
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 2/2007
Steve M  
 
 
 
Posted On May 23, 2007
Since many of us dis-trust our government I think it means to us also nothing when there is something that has a label "gov approved" ......correct me if I am wrong...

I think only a naive person would really think that it really healthy...LOL


 
MarikaB
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 4/2007
MarikaB  
Replied

C Ed Wright
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2007
C Ed Wright  
 
Posted On Jun 07, 2007
YA THINK...!?  Just about everything that is or has gone wrong with this country is "government approved" or it wouldn't be the case.


C Ed Wright
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2007
C Ed Wright  
 
Posted On Jun 08, 2007
BTW, it's all those really naive people out there that they're counting on to be fooled by this nonsense!

 
 
 
 
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