Essay 1920

Oxymorons and regular morons in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A new Kaiser Family Foundation study showed kids between the ages of 8 to 12 are hit with about 21 TV advertisements for food every day. Also, half of the ads on children’s programs hawk food items. “The vast majority of the foods that kids see advertised on television today are for products that nutritionists would tell us they need to be eating less of, not more of,” said a vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. Some advertisers protested the findings. “If you look across our portfolio in our marketing, less than 1 percent of our total marketing dollars are toward children’s marketing,” said the vice president for health and wellness at PepsiCo. “If you look at us companywide, that’s not a huge effort that we spend toward marketing to children. We focus more of our ads on adults.” Not sure about the credibility of anyone with the oxymoron title of vice president for health and wellness at PepsiCo.

• Mark April 17 as the day that the rights to O.J. Simpson’s “If I Did It” book will be auctioned off. Auction proceeds and subsequent profits will go to the Goldman family. If the Goldmans want to really cash in, they’ll turn the event into a realty TV show. The working title could be: “If I Bid It.”

• Delta Zeta, the sorority charged with dumping unattractive and unpopular members, is now suing DePauw University for the school’s decision to cut the organization from campus (see Essay 1834). The ladies allege the university broke promises and contracts, defamed them and interfered with their business. What a bunch of high-maintenance divas.