I’m not one to press people on issues that I believe in and I don’t really consider myself as a controversial writer. And while I am opinionated, I don’t throw it down your throat. However, when something someone does is just wrong and it effects my family and friends – that’s when I feel I have to get involved.
Recently, I had a guest post on MommyBKnowsBest about the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup and the awful things that it can and does do to our bodies. Last month at the Type-A-Mom blogger’s conference the Corn Refiners Association launched their new name, “Corn Sugar”….. along with some blogger gifts, er bribes. Which I promptly threw out.
It’s great that the CRA (Corn Refiners Association) are giving HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) another chance and changing the name so people won’t associate it with the bad rap that it’s gotten…or is it???
By simply giving the product a “new name”, large advertising dollars and even outreach efforts to Mom Bloggers, this doesn’t make the product any different. It’s funny how CRA and even some big Public Relations companies are underestimating the intelligence of moms and women.
Slashfood recently reported on the backlash that CRA and some mom forums are receiving over High Fructose Corn Syrup. It seems that Mom Central, a large marketing group focused on mom bloggers, ran a blog tour and campaign on behalf of the CRA. Mom bloggers were encouraged to write posts about all of the great things Corn Sugar has to offer in return for a gift card to go shopping with.
Some bloggers took advantage of being able to write some fresh content for their blogs and get “paid” for it at the same time and there’s nothing wrong with that, but as a mom blogger I feel very strongly about doing my research on things I review and not being the type of blogger that cuts and pastes whatever the companies I’m representing want me to say. I believe that we as bloggers need to be held a higher standard and be accountable to our readers.
Many moms who are a part of Mom Central also felt as I do, and were appalled that a mom and kid focused group, (what Mom Central touts itself as) would dare present such an offer to them. Really it came as a slap in the face to some of the mom blogger community and moms everywhere are standing up for their rights. A number of Mom Central reviewers are cutting ties with the marketing group because of this controversial move.
Now don’t get me wrong I don’t avoid all HFCS. We as a family try to eat healthy and clean but it doesn’t always happen. What I don’t like is when companies are shady about being bad for you and your family. Don’t change your name, your logo, your packaging and think that I’m not smart enough to notice, or tell my readers about it.
I believe that blog readers too need to inform themselves on what they’re reading, don’t believe everything you read on someone’s blog and if you can’t trust or your morals don’t align with what that blog is saying find new blogs to read that do.
From mom blogger to the world: We don’t like to be duped and if you don’t know moms can be the most protective beings on the Earth. So don’t underestimate us! You can call High Fructose Corn Syrup whatever you wish, but please don’t think that we all can be bought with a $50 gift certificate.
If anything good is to come from Mommy Bloggers vs. High Fructose Corn Syrup, I hope that CRA and other companies start realizing that mom bloggers really do have a voice and that some of us will fight for our causes tooth and nail. Perhaps it will even make some of us bloggers reconsider the choices we are making as we write future post.
What are your thoughts on how the Corn Refiners Association is going about rebranding High Fructose Corn Syrup?
Original post published on: http://blogcritics.org/tastes/article/mommy-bloggers-vs-high-fructose-corn/#ixzz12MqNPFh3
I’ve been following this a bit too, it’s all really interesting.
I hate to sound mean, but the CRA apparently didn’t underestimate mom bloggers at all. They fell for it, didn’t they?
I don’t think they “fell” for anything. They probably saw a gift certificate and that was more important. While it is a horrible thing that they are doing, the majority of people still haven’t cut anything unhealthy out of their diets, and really don’t care to. Perfect example of good advertising on lazy, unhealthy people = the GIGANTIC people wearing their shape ups, riding the scooter at Walmart rather than walking.
Oh my gosh Chefwife, you crack me up with this: “Perfect example of good advertising on lazy, unhealthy people = the GIGANTIC people wearing their shape ups, riding the scooter at Walmart rather than walking.”
I remember meeting you at the Type A Conference, and the purpose of my attending that conference was to put a face behind our efforts and to hear the various concerns. Your views are important to us, which is why I attended the conference to hear them directly. Do you know that prior to you sitting down at the “speed dating” table that I saw on Twitter that you were in part sponsored by @NoFizzCLT, and I am aware of his views, so I was expecting and hoping that you would voice your concerns, and questions, as we want to open the dialogue. We are not underestimating the intelligence of moms or bloggers, and I am sincerely sorry that you feel this way – you, along with anyone else can view the webinar at http://www.cornsugar.com/momcentral. As a mom, I can say with confidence that the role we play in caring for our families, and buying and preparing foods to better their nutrition is very important. That is why we are engaged in a national education effort to provide science-based facts about high fructose corn syrup. The people that showed up to the webinar were interested in learning more about high fructose corn syrup and added sugars in general. Further, if you look at the webinar then you will be able to see that these bloggers did do their research and they came to the table with questions. We presented the facts, responded to their questions and understandably their time is valuable, and that is what they were compensated for, the time involved in writing the post, but this was in their own voice. .
We have been completely transparent on why we are petitioning for an alternate name – we have all of the details on our site at http://www.sweetsurprise.com/about-us/corn-sugar/fact-sheet, and we were the ones who made the announcement in regard to the petition http://blog.sweetsurprise.com/2010/09/day-in-the-press . There is an important trend underway in America – consumers are trying to consume less added sugars – why would we ask for an alternate name for high fructose corn syrup that included the term sugar? Because it accurately conveys the calories, sweetness and compositional characteristics of this ingredient to consumers http://www.sweetsurprise.com/sites/default/files/CRA_PetitionAppendixB.pdf
PS. I believe you meant to provide this link for the Slashfood article http://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/13/mommy-blogger-backlash-over-hfcs
We hope you are open to a dialogue. Your views are important to us.
Therese, Social Media Manager, CRA
Hey Therese,
Thanks so much for stopping by. I too remember meeting you at Type -A, however since it was a brief meeting (5 minute speed dating) purposed to network with bloggers and companies I didn’t really see the time or that it was the right venue to bring up my thoughts or discuss HFCS with you, and Friday was the only day that I attended. I am always open to dialogue but not really sure what more I have to say regarding Corn Sugar as a product or the name change. There have been some great responses on BlogCritics.org regarding this post and I am glad that you seem to be a part of the dialogue.