Labour Pushes To Ban Cartoon Characters From Cereal Packets

[naomi24]

//Tony the Tiger and other cartoon characters on cereal packets face being banned under a Labour government. Party deputy leader Tom Watson will today urge the advertising industry to stop using such images on sugar-laden products aimed at children.
If they refuse, a Labour government would bring in much stricter rules as part of the war against obesity.//

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6646643/Not-grrreat-Labour-pushes-ban-Tony-Tiger-cartoon-characters-cereal-packets.html

Nannying going too far – or do initiatives like this work?

[naomi24]

//plain packaging -- which anyway means putting health warnings prominently on the packet//

Plain packaging doesn't mean that. It means plain packaging. Health warnings were on cigarette packets long before regulation packaging was introduced - and I think those health warnings and increasing prices were probably more effective in deterring smokers than boring packaging.

[Prudie]

Well I don't want to divert the thread to smoking so my last word (as a smoker) is studies may probably prove health warnings clearly printed on had an impact but that is nothing to do with the black packaging. My brand changed from a green box with large gross photos (which had been on there long before the black idea came in) to a black box with same photos. The background design is a complete irrelevance.

[naomi24]

^Exactly.

[spathiphyllum]

Think jims talking about the prictures not the "warning smoking kills quit now" things.

Imagine on cereal packets if there were a load of fat snotty kids on the front with "warning - too much eating leads to obesity" LOL it'd be stoopid. You'd have to do it for chocolate , biscuits.. I mean, how many kids have cereal every morning? Is it really something to focus energy on is it such a contributor to child obesity?

[Ken4155]

Most of the cereal ads on our tv screens are aimed specifically at children who will then press parents to buy the product. The thinking behind removing the cartoon characters is obviously to make them less appealing and maybe, just maybe, the children will try (and enjoy) other healthier options. Surely, anything to help in the battle against childhood obesity is worth a punt?

[naomi24]

I suppose the bottom line is if Labour gets its way and succeeds in removing cartoons from cereal packets, will people continue to buy cereals?

//Think jims talking about the prictures not the "warning smoking kills quit now" things.//

So am I. Those pictures were on cigarette packets long before
uniform packaging came into existence.

[jim360]

I don't doubt your perspective on the issue, I'm just saying that it doesn't represent the wider response, which has very much shown that plain packaging has had a moderate impact. See, for example,

http://www.tobaccopreventioncessation.com/Re-analysing-tobacco-industry-funded-research-on-the-effect-of-plain-packaging-on,78508,0,2.html

and other studies are similar. That's not to pretend that on its own plain packaging is enough, but then again that isn't the argument anyway. It's part of a wider strategy.

The same would essentially be true when it comes to cereal packaging. On its own I don't dispute that it will have only a minimal impact (although crucially not no impact at all), but if there are wider efforts to, say, reduce sugar content of all cereals, and the like, then it would play a significant role.

[spathiphyllum]

I wasn't aware of that. I thought the pictures came along with the black packaging laws and the 30G minimum weight of tobacco to buy.

[dannyk13]

Labour should have concentrated their efforts on getting the manufacturers to reduce the sugar content rather than removing cartoon characters from packets.

[spathiphyllum]

Jim you are right. It's the reason why home brands such as tesco value or sainsburys basic are usually very plain packaged and white where as for example foxes biscuits are not. They would rather sell the money maker big brands.

[douglas9401]

Sometimes, quite often actually, I wonder if some posters are creations of programmers far, far away, struggling with a second language.

[jim360]

I guess I'm talking about the transition from packaging styles as shown on the left to those on the right.

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QP8GEtpZST6KvCM3TJAlmgpfWng=/0x0:2010x1318/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2010x1318):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6572675/Screen%20Shot%202016-05-31%20at%204.59.04%20PM.png

[naomi24]

spath, see Prudie's post at 09:36 Wed. She's a smoker.

[spathiphyllum]

Prudie is an individual.

When looking at the whole populous you'll find that plain packaging is less appealing.

[Ken4155]

Danny, back in 2013 they urged the government to introduce legal limits on sugar, fat and salt contents in food. They suggested a 30% cap on sugar content in cereals aimed at children - significantly lower than in several well known brands. I can't do links but this was from a BBC News report "Consider tougher regulation in obesity fight - Labour" and was dated 5 Jan 2013.

[dannyk13]

Thanks for that info Ken.

[naomi24]

Spath, I wasn’t talking about what’s less appealing - just pointing you towards Prudie’s post which confirms that warning pictures were on cigarette packets long before plain packaging was introduced – something you said you were unaware of.

[spathiphyllum]

ahh i get you

[naomi24]

Ken, here you are.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20914685

[Khandro]

Because Watson has been on a diet he is filled with self-admiration, and turns on these poor defenceless cartoon characters with the zeal if a born-again Christian - Bah!