Craig spoof ad

Posted: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 11:16 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Republicans

From NBC’s Lauren Appelbaum
An organization trying to combat childhood obesity has created a television spoof of Sen. Larry Craig's men's room incident called “Dirty Little Secret.” The ad targets U.S. senators drafting the Farm Bill, who support subsidies for high-fat foods such as bacon and burgers that make their way to school-lunch programs.

The ad, created by the non-profit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), features a man in a bathroom stall tapping his foot, signaling that he is ready to receive political contributions from the pork industry. "In turn, Congress buys up millions of dollars of these products and dumps them on our schools," the ad’s announcer says. "Companies get rich. Kids get fat. Is your Senator on the gravy train? Find out at StopChildhoodObesityNow.org"

Per Jeanne Stuart McVey, the group's spokesperson, the ad will run on CNN Wednesday evening between 6pm and midnight in DC, Atlanta and Minneapolis. The ad is running in Atlanta to target Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), who, according to the organization, has received the most amount of money from agribusiness PACs between 2000 and 2006. McVey says the ad is running in Minneapolis because Larry Craig's hearing is in the city.

The initial ad buy is $10,000, but the organization plans to buy additional airtime in the coming weeks. "The Farm Bill is still being worked on in the Senate," McVey says, "so we still have time to influence the Farm Bill."

Here’s the full transcript of the ad:
ANNCR: "It's their dirty little secret. Members of Congress taking PAC money from corporations producing bacon, burgers, and other fatty foods. In turn, Congress buys up millions of dollars of these products and dumps them on our schools. Companies get rich. Kids get fat. Is your Senator on the gravy train? Find out at StopChildhoodObesityNow.org."

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Comments

THIS JOB BLOWS.

LARRY,in Minneapolis (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 11:22 AM)

Maybe the next one should be Hillary and Bill at a Chinese restaurant.

jerry/corpus christi texas (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 11:23 AM)

Isn't this a PETA's sponsored group?

MeatEater (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 11:33 AM)

CO already requires ID to vote, and one has to show it to write or cash a check, to use a credit/debit card in most businesses...all for the same reason -- to reduce fraud. Identity theft is a serious problem today. Who is it exactly that favors fraud or is willing to risk it in the voting process?

mark (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 11:34 AM)

What a ridiculous ad and it makes little sense? I fail to see the connection between Craig and obese children. And if they are, indeed, attempting to make that connection, that is just wrong. I hope they don't show this ad during times when young children watch TV.

Nicholas, Minneaps, MN (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 11:36 AM)

What does Craig have to do with the meat-packing industry? . . . Mmmmm Sausages!

Nicholas, Minneaps, MN (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 11:48 AM)

I can see Jerry tapping his foot right now!

G (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 11:57 AM)

Saxby Chabmbliss is the Republican who smeared Sen. Max Cleland.
Cleland was a Viet Nam veteran who had lost both legs and an arm in Viet Nam.

Chambliss smeared him as being 'unpatriotic' because Cleland didn't support Bush's Homeland Security bill.

Saxby Chambliss was a Viet Nam era draft dodger and coward who didn't hesitate to smear an honorable veteran, Max Cleland.

Another Republican chicken hawk !!

Sierra, SF (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:15 PM)

Kudos to PCRM. It's about time someone did something about the farm bill. Under this law, taxpayers are writing huge checks to some of the biggest corporations in the country to subsidize the production of unhealthy crud like cheeseburgers and corn syrup. It's a waste of our money, and it's bad for kids.

John Franklin (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:15 PM)

Why is it the Government's fault the kids are getting obese - From my obeservation - lack of exercise is the culprit. Wouldn't this be the responsibility of the parents to get their kids off the couch/computer chair and outside to the ballfields or swimming pool???

Patrice Royer, Lebanon, PA (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:20 PM)

Seems oversimplistic to say that burgers being served at lunch are making kids fat. I think about what I ate and what my parents ate when they were kids, and there were plenty of burgers on the menu, as well as sweet treats and lots of meat.

The difference is back then we didn't have 200 or 300 cable channels to watch, and endless supplies of video games to play. We actually went outside and played with our friends whenever we had the chance. I can't remember spending much time indoors at all during the warmer months. Even in the winter, we'd go outside as much as possible.

Obviously, the abundance of unhealthy foods in our diets contributes to obesity, but so too does lack of exercise. If you are getting plenty of exercise, it's not going to hurt you to have a burger for lunch sometimes.

Carrie, Eastern Iowa (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:37 PM)

This group is a PETA front. See www.PhysicianScam.com

John Doe, Seattle, Wash. (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:39 PM)

You just don’t get it. Parents don’t have any responsibilities any more. They started giving that up when the networks started the soaps. The government is responsible for children now, but noone wants to pay for it.

Howard, Grants Pass, OR (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:39 PM)

you libs seem to forget it is not the parents job to monitor their children, it is the government because liberals are such bad parents.

Get ready for that in a Hillary world

jerry/corpus christi texas (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:44 PM)

Patrice, I'll try to answer the question for you. It is the parents responsibility to make their kids healthy. However, educating parents to the dangers of these food is the responsibility of the MSM and the FDA. Both entities are greatly influenced by agri-business (the MSM through advertising dollars and the FDA through the political ties between the administrators of the agency and agri-business). The National Institure of Health even changed its claim of an obesity epidemic after influential agri-business interests complained to the Bush Administration. If parents are getting faulty or compromised information on what to feed their children, how will they know what is the right thing to do. Another problem is this, in states with larger populations than three million, the ones with the highest rates of obesity are also the ones who spend the least money on education per student and have few physical education programs other than organized sports. If people are brought up in a society where fat and uneducated are commonplace and encouraged as a way to retain economic success for American business, parents have little influence on what happens. Besides, most of them are too tired working two jobs to make ends meet after getting in over their heads financially to care about the quality of food their children are eating.

Robert Catalano, Salem, OR (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 1:18 PM)

Another case of MSNBC not checking their sources. This is a SCAM being put over by PETA.

CheckYourSources (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 2:22 PM)

Oh, OK jerry

You just said in another post subject that Repulsivcans would win in 08?

Greg R., Spokane, WA (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 3:05 PM)

I think someone is just trying to blow a lot of smoke up the skirts of rednecks on this site. Please stop trying to confuse them with facts. If you want rednecks to believe something, run it on FOX. Oh, okay, maybe you weren't even talking to rednecks. They are just volunteering their opinions free of charge. Is there a blog for morons, or do they just have to share blogs with normal people?

JIrby, Colorado (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 3:15 PM)

Chambliss is a neocon puppet. He will be re-elected in GA.

Flat-earther, Georgia (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 3:19 PM)

Carrie, I agree with your assessment of a leading cause of childhood obesity - couch "potatoism". The "Play and Hour a Day" ad shown on the internet is a good one, and it addresses the American youth's lack of physical play. But, I think the PCRM ad is really good satire. Made me laugh.

mad in Madtown (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 4:34 PM)

Jerry...Dude,

You need to take a breath bro. Just because the Republican leadership likes gay sex in bathrooms, sex with hookers and sex with pages, doesn't mean that they're hypocrites. Well, I guess it does. But just because you feel the need to defend their actions doesn't mean you support their "habits", or does it?

M.Foley,Florida (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 6:28 PM)

Obesity is a public health problem in that it isn't limited to any one particular group in this country and the financial ramifications are felt by all tax-payers in terms of medical treatments, etc. Folks of lower-income are particularly at high risk for obesity since they often cannot afford fruits and veggies (since they aren't subsidized by the government). Additionally, they frequently lack access to pools, ball fields and safe places for recreation. That our government dumps extra fatty food on kids -- particularly those that are dependent on school lunch programs -- is a public health outrage that more of us need to stand up to.

Allison George, Carrboro, NC (Sent Tuesday, September 25, 2007 6:57 PM)

I could go on about my opinion as to why there are fat kids....I do not know the numbers as to how it breaks down by income and wealth. My opinion is based on observation only. I live in a lower middle class to lower-upper class neighborhood and see just as many fat, spoiled and lazy kids from the the whole spectrum. IMO part of the problem is the fat kids parents are too busy (READ: LAZY) to eat meals at home. They eat at various restraunts for 2 meals, skip breakfast or give the kids something premade or packaged, then mostly have junk food (chips, ect) available at home. They are the parents who will take their kid to the ball field or shopping center and drive around for a while to find the closest parking space. I have seen parents get into major disputes with coaches because little Emily or Chucky aren't allowed to eat on the bench while the game is going on....I have heard parents proudly declare "We don't eat : vegetables, fish, bread, milk, fruit, ect." I hace coached both boys and girls for 19 years, as I have gone along I have seen more and more kids who have poor eating habits, are closed to changing and despite all the better healthy eating knowledge available now the almost 20 yearts ago THEIR PARENTS SUPPOT THIS AS IT IS HOW THEY EAT!!! I would never have imagined the educated, well compensated parents, with advantages many of of citizens of this country would envy, would be so lazy and shallow as to allow this to happen to their children....I could go on for a long time on this topic..I have seen too many who reach their teen years and whom eat only potato chips, fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, soda and candy. I fear for the kids the current kids raise...what'll they eat?? Candy and chips??

The Edge, Macon GA (Sent Wednesday, September 26, 2007 1:21 AM)

This is a great ad! What a clever way to get people's attention about the Farm Bill. Recently, there's been a lot of articles about how the Farm Bill continues to fund unhealthy foods--this needs to change. According to the PCRM Web site, even the American Medical Association and the President's Cancer Panel are calling for changes to subsidies that fund unhealthy crops/foods. I am glad PCRM put this ad together--it's time for America to start eating healthier. Congress needs to change the Farm Bill so every American has access to healthy foods.

East Coast of America (Sent Wednesday, September 26, 2007 9:39 AM)

Great ad! It’s about time for someone to expose the dirty relationship between agribusiness PAC money and senators who draft the Farm Bill. One detail this ad doesn’t mention is that Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest meat producer, scored $46.6 million in USDA commodity contracts, according to 2005 figures. Meanwhile, less than half of 1 percent of subsidies went into fruit and vegetable production. As cheap, unhealthy foods are then dumped on schools, it’s certainly no secret that Congress has run pathetically awry.

Colleen, Denver, CO (Sent Wednesday, September 26, 2007 11:48 AM)

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