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Friday, February 23, 2007

I'm Thankful for Marketing

Yes, I know that sounds like an odd thing to say. And I will be the first to admit that until 3 weeks ago, it used to really annoy me when I would see cereal, juice, and fruit snacks with kids' TV characters on the boxes. Now I've been converted. What epiphany made me change my mind? Well, first it was my absolutely certainty that I would never fall prey to the evil control of the marketing powers that be. As with any parenting decision that I have been 100% sure about, I have changed my mind (maybe I should do a post on that!) The real reason though is that I needed to get my son to eat more fiber.

I have always joked that my older son (OS)is my little vegetarian. Like me, he really doesn't like meat that much. He has always enjoyed fruits, vegetables and cheese (whereas I unfortunately enjoy chips and dip a lot more). Ever since he was little, we've told him that eating fruits and vegetables makes your body feel good and that fruits and vegetables make you poop. Recently OS decided for whatever reason, that he did not want to poop anymore. I think it's because he doesn't like the splash in the toilet, but I really don't know. It could just be that the stars weren't lined up right or that his favorite episode of Blue's Clues wasn't on that day. Anyhow, he informed me that he didn't want to poop anymore, so he was no longer eating fruits and vegetables. There wasn't anything I could do. All the pediatrician's suggestion involved eating different types of fruits and vegetables. OS simply refused.

I began my quest for high fiber foods. I even explored different grocery stores to see what they offered. That's when I saw it: Cascadian Farm's Clifford Crunch. I immediately ran over to the aisles and lunged to the shelf to grab the box. Not only was Clifford on it (OS absolutely loves anything with Clifford - the big red dog, not the mailman Clifford Clavin from Cheers), but it has 6 grams of fiber per serving. I immediately bought it. The next day I gave it to OS for breakfast. He was so excited by the presence of Clifford and pals on the box that he ate the cereal and later produced the appropriate result. He continued to be very happy to eat the cereal for breakfast. However, one day I gave him cereal without putting the box on the table and he refused to eat it. It's all about the marketing. No Clifford, no consumption.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Sometimes marketing is a good thing.

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posted by Alex Elliot @ 10:06 PM   2 comments
2 Comments:

  • At 2/24/2007 11:06 AM, Blogger Nancy said…

    Yeah for Clifford and high fiber!! OK, maybe not all marketing toward chidren is bad, but while watching cartoons this morning I was getting tired of hearing "I want that for Christmas! I want that for Christmas, too!" *sigh*

     

  • At 2/24/2007 11:12 AM, Blogger super des said…

    I think if it was Cliff Claven nobody would want to eat it. It's for people that eat too much fiber.

    You should keep the cereal box and put in on the table no matter what he's eating. I wonder if that would work?

     
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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

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