Advertising’s Influence

I saw a film clip the other day in which Ralph Nader was asked “Where can we go to be free of advertising?” After a brief pause, he stumbled over his words and said “When you’re asleep!”.  Wow! Consider that the vast number of those ads are food or drink related ads. Estimate how many advertisements we see each day on television, in magazines and newspapers, in our mailbox, on the Internet, on the radio, on billboards and store signs related to food. It’s staggering! And our only break is when we are asleep. And in our country, this is even more of a challenge because we are sleep deprived. Ha!

Do you ever find yourself watching a TV program after you’ve finished a nice dinner and all of a sudden you think “Are there any of those cookies left?” or “Popcorn sure would be good”? Do you then hop up and search the cupboards for a treat even though you’ve just finished dinner? And if you’d stop to ask your stomach, you are actually FULL. Don’t despair – those thoughts pop up in most of us – especially when we are watching TV due to the advertising messages. TV ads are specifically designed to activate your senses. The ads reach us on an unconscious or semi-conscious level quickly bypassing our logical selves.

Some TV ads target our emotions. These ads show fun, family and especially childhood celebrations linked with food. Some ads target our ego showing how “sexy” or attractive we can be by drinking a certain liquor or grilling a certain food. Others target our desire to be in control by showing one succeeding in the “hunt” for food and being powerful winners. Other ads seek to access your memories of good times with food, such as Birthday celebrations, and Holiday feasts.

Forget the content and the story of the food commercials because they all have one goal – to get you to buy and eat more food! If we want to remain free of outside influences like multi-national food vendors, we need to be mindful of our impulses and our actions. We need to take back control of our minds.

Using mindful eating as a prevention tool to ward off cravings and binges the TV ads suggest that we engage in, takes practice.

Try this: When you sit down to watch a show, notice your level of hunger and rate it 1 to 10 (1 being stuffed to the gills and 10 being ravenous, hamster hungry. (One of my brothers once said he was so hungry he could eat a hamster! I know, YUCK!). Anyway!  Rate your hunger 1 to 10 as you sit down. If you are between 1 and 3 (stuffed to the gills), make a decision right then and there that you will not be having a snack while watching the TV show. And if you need a reminder, write the number down on a sheet of paper and set it next to you. When you feel the impulse to go check the cupboards or the fridge, just look at your Hunger number and reconsider.

If you rate yourself as a 4-6, which would be not hungry, then write that number down and note to yourself that you are not hungry. If you rate yourself as a 7 or above (moving toward hamster hungry), you did not just have dinner! And you should go eat a balanced meal before you sit down in front of the machine that is going to trigger all your cravings.

This week, as you find yourself settling-in to watch a favorite football game, show or movie, remember to engage your logical mind. Remember that you are in control of your appetite, not the TV advertisers. You can maintain control by being aware of whether or not you are hungry and making thoughtful decisions about what to do about it – get that snack from the fridge or choose hot tea to curb your craving or choose to just notice how cravings will pass if we don’t fuel them with food fantasies. Don’t let that TV screen push you around! Assert your independence!

JME Affirmation for the Day

I am free to choose healthy patterns for myself. As I listen to my body, I learn what my body needs to be healthy and whole. I am healthy, I am happy, I am whole.