Not that long ago, I wrote about Andrew Scheer and his laments about his picky eater son. But then I saw this commercial by Kraft and I had to ask: just what is going on? This commercial brought up so many different issues from parenting styles and picky eaters to what is wrong with food companies.
How could anyone have actually approved this commercial? It is wrong on so many different levels.
Does Kraft actually think that this kind of advertising will sell parents on what to make for dinner? Or is this commercial aimed at kids to tell them that they can eat what they like? If it is aimed at kids and if the Senate of Canada had passed the Child Health Protection Act, (which they let die) would we see this kind of advertisement? (I was going to call it something else but sensibility prevailed and I decided not to swear!)
What is wrong with Kraft? I thought they were way off track with their #LieLikeAParent campaign where they introducied their Kraft Salad “Frosting,” – its Kraft Classic Ranch Dressing disguised in a frosting tube.
But now I’ve seen this.
Is this how kids are supposed to behave when they want something different for dinner? If the boy was allergic to fish, then obviously the parents would not cook it for dinner. But for the parents to make another dinner to please this boy (after his behaviour) is nothing less than shocking. Or maybe I should be saying that for a Kraft to say that parents should make another dinner to please their children is nothing less than shocking.
Anyone with kids knows that preparing healthy meals that everyone will like can be a difficult task indeed. I’ve written about this before including the fact that learning to be a healthy eater is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight just as teaching our kids about moral values (kindness, honesty etc.) is something that doesn’t happen in a flash. In some cases of extremely picky eating, consulting a registered dietitian can be extremely helpful.
It takes work on the part of parents. It also takes patience. It is our responsibility, though, as parents to teach kids about healthy food choices but also about respect. How respectful is it for a child to make like they’re going to barf because you have prepared something they don’t like?
There’s no doubt that kids go through stages where they may hate the food that you’re preparing but hopefully over time, they will learn about healthy eating. Scientific research shows that it can take 20 exposures or tastes of a food for a disliked food to become tolerable. Who knows-it could even grow to be a favourite at some point.
Check out my Instagram post about this very topic: my daughters and healthy eating. I still laugh about the email where I asked my daughter to prove her identity to me.
What are your thoughts about this Kraft commercial?
Enlightened Eater 
My thoughts exactly!
The newer Kraft commercials are even worse than this one. Children behaving badly seems to be the norm in their ads now, like the little girl who says she will sleep at the table before she eats what she has been given. Or the little girl running away from her mother, who is chasing her through the house with a forkful of food. I can’t imagine my parents putting up with disrespectful behavior like that. What has happened to commercials? Children behaving badly, children throwing up in commercials, the “mother of the year” who is more interested in her cat than in her child who has fallen and is bleeding. In other words, all those commercials I despise!
Dixie, I wholeheartedly agree with you! I really don’t understand how they have commercials like this. It certainly appears that they think that children behaving in this way is the norm. It is sad indeed.