After complaints from the National Eating Disorders Association, Yoplait has pulled an ad that "contained language NEDA says is a trigger for those most vulnerable" to eating disorders.
The offending commercial features a woman debating and bargaining with herself about eating a piece of cheesecake, eventually opting for Yoplait's lo-cal cheesecake-flavored yogurt.
In a press release, Lynn Grefe, president and CEO of NEDA explains: "The language in this advertising campaign was seriously problematic for those affected by eating disorders and anyone who may have a predisposition towards developing one. We applaud Yoplait and General Mills for taking the time to speak with us, listening to our concerns and their quick action to provide a solution. I believe the company had no intent to harm and gained insight into a very serious issue that we hope will influence their marketing decisions in the future."
Progress? Hopefully. We've got a long history of food advertisements encouraging disordered eating.
Sugar-Free Tab: Forty years ago, did anyone bat an eye at a diet soda commercial that leveled the threat of abandonment to wives who dared to not keep a good shape?
Carvel Thinny-Thin: What about in the early 1980s, when a smug-sounding woman called out an ice cream-loving man for being a fatty-fat?
Surely things are better now, right?
