The World Wants You to Be Stupid: Nutella
Note: This is part of a regular series dedicated to pointing out instances where the world is relying on you being stupid – don’t fall for it!
In this edition of TWWYTBS, we look at another ad for an unhealthy product passing itself off as some kind of health food. Yes, I realize that the last TWWYTBS about Taco Bell’s Drive Thru Diet had a similar theme, but I just saw this and had to share.
There is an ad on TV for Nutella, a delicious chocolate hazelnut spread. It is quite good, but it is basically chocolate. Evidently, the folks at Nutella think this qualifies it as health food, and they want mom’s to include Nutella as part of their kids’ health plan.
You can see the ad I first saw on TV at Nutella’s US website.
Here’s a version I found on YouTube that is very similar:
So Nutella is positioning itself as a health food now…?
What.
The.
Heck?!
Don’t get me wrong, I have recently fallen in love with Nutella. It is, after all, delicious. If I need a snack, half of a a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich (with or without sliced bananas) hits the spot. But I am under no illusions that the Nutella itself is healthy.
The ad, however, would have you believe otherwise. Let’s take a look at some of the brilliant text:
“I feel good starting my kids day with Nutella, as part of a nutritious breakfast.”
The words, “as part of a healthy breakfast” should be permanently banned from all advertising. I watched a lot of Saturday morning cartoons growing up, so I saw a lot of cereal commercials. They could advertise the most sugar laden cereal in the world, then say, “as part of a nutritious (or healthy, or balanced) breakfast,” then show a picture of the bowl of cereal with a glass of OJ, some toast, and fruit. Well sure, if the rest of the breakfast is healthy you can tack on whatever else you want. This line could read, “I feel good starting my kids day off with a shot of Tequila, as part of a nutritious breakfast,” and it would be just as valid.
“It’s good food to keep them going.”
Translation: I like to hop my kids up on sugar before sending them out into the world.
“Every jar is made of wholesome all natural ingredients. 106 hazelnuts, a whole cup of skim milk, and a hint of delicious cocoa.”
Riiiiiight. Hazelnuts (exactly 106, for some reason), skim milk, and a hint of cocoa. Hmmm, do you really believe that’s all that’s in Nutella? If so, try this: grab 106 hazelnuts, one cup of skim milk, and a dash of cocoa, throw them in a blender, liquify, and drink. When you are done gagging on that, come on back here…
Do you have a jar of Nutella in your house? If so, go read the ingredients. I’ll wait.
Don’t have one? Ok, Let me list the ingredients for you – remember, ingredients are listed from most to least used in the food:
- Sugar
- Modified Palm Oil
- Hazelnuts
- Cocoa
- Skim Milk
- Reduced Minerals Whey
- Soy Lecithin: An Emulsifier
- Vanillin: An Artificial Flavor
That’s right, the number on ingredient is sugar! Number 2 is oil.
Interestingly, the ad stresses that there is a cup of whole milk and a “hint” of cocoa, but according to the ingredients there is more cocoa than milk.
If you want to feed your kids (or yourself) high sugar stuff, I have no problem with that. Just make it a conscious choice, and not as a result of some ploy by a company to pass off their sugar laden food as “healthy.”
“Nutella has no preservatives or artificial colors and is a source of vitamin E.”
I thought this was the one good thing Nutella had going for it. Then I realized that one of the ingredients is “Vanillin: An Artificial Flavor.” So Nutella has no artificial colors or preservatives, but it does have artificial flavor? Tricky tricky…
“I make sure Nutella’s always part of their breakfast.”
Always? Always?? Of course, because nothing says “I love you” like childhood obesity…Ok, that may sound harsh, but if you saw an ad for Cap ‘N Crunch cereal where a woman tried to pass it off as healthy and said she made sure to always include it with her breakfast, you would sprain your wrist dialing child services.
I’ll admit it, I’m not a parent, but I have seen my friends try to get their kids to eat, and I know it can be a chore. And I am not some kind of health food extremist who thinks kids should be deprived of all sorts of tasty junk food (hell, I grew up on it!).
My issue here, as with the Taco Bell diet, is not that Nutella is not healthy, but rather that the company is trying to trick you into thinking it is. The ads want you to not think. The ads want you to blindly follow what they say.
In a nutshell, the ads want you to be stupid.
Don’t fall for it. Take some responsibility. Do some research. Read the nutrition info. And apply some common sense: if something tastes like a melted down Hershey bar with hazelnuts, chances are it’s not healthy!
Well, now that I’ve got that off my chest, I feel like making myself a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich. Hey, I said it was unhealthy – I never said it wasn’t delicious!
About
By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+
12 Responses to “The World Wants You to Be Stupid: Nutella”
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http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Chocolate_Frosted_Sugar_Bombs I am waiting for that to hit market shelfs 😉
That’s awesome. I’m kind of shocked they don’t exist already…
This is exactly what I have been saying! Haha. Seriously, Nutella healthy? Come on! People really do fool themselves. I too would be amazed to hear how on the commercial they try to make people believe it’s healthy. I know I wouldn’t be sending off my kids with Nutella for breakfast. Even if it is on whole grain toast…
Thanks Soraya – the first time I saw the commercial I was pretty stunned. I was watching an ad for chocolate spread and it was going on about all the healthy ingredients in it. Crazy!
I think America is trying to merge into some of the Europe cultural items. Tons of exchange students who come here from Germany eat nutella everyday. It started in Europe and is extremely popular there. However, if you look at the imported nutella (in the glass jars) it is more expensive then the American plastic jar…like $10? And the European nutella does not list the oil in it.
None the less…it would be nice if companies would step up and start using real ingredients. I like the taste of nutella, but i’m not big on artificial flavorings either…
I also found that exchange students coming here that I know, have to mix our store-bought juice with water, because back home they do not have juice “concentrates”.
Thanks for the article!
I also enjoy Nutella once in a while but it is an awful replacement for peanut butter. First, like the author of the article said, Nutella is all sugar. About 26 grams of sugar in two tablespoons. Not to mention, I dislike the sugary and bad aftertaste. It is also expensive.
Personally, I do not find it a healthy option. There are pros and cons for Nutella and peanut butter in the nutrition facts, but because Nutella is mainly sugar, I rather sacrifice sugar for healthy fats from peanut butter.
Notice in the commercials they mention Nutella spread on multigrain toast or whole wheat waffles. If it weren’t for the whole grain input, the product could not be considered “healthy” and the commercial would probably not be aired.
So they basically trick you into thinking Nutella is healthy…. as long as it is on multigrain bread or whole wheat toast.
Thanks for the comment. It is amazing how many food products in their commercials say they are healthy “as part of a healthy breakfast” or “as part of a balanced meal” and then they show their product along with a table of fruit, veggies, and lean proteins. Really, I could create a product that is nothing but a bowl of sugar, and say it’s “healthy when consumed with a full day’s serving of spinach.” it’s crazy.
What’s sad is how many people probably don’t take the time to think it through and just take the commercial at face value…
I get really frustrated whenever I see this commercial. What kid in their right mind would want to eat multigrain toast for breakfast? I’m 42 years old and wouldn’t eat multigrain toast for breakfast. Especially 1 slice of it. If the kids were “normal” kids, they would be screaming for the sugar bombed cereals we got when we were kids.
Come on.
Nutella comes from Italy. Only 8-9% of italians are obese. 30% of American are obese.
Every single Italian child eats nutella (at breakfast and/or as a snack at 4pm).
So, Nutella is not the main problem.
Thanks for the comment. I don’t think Nutella itself is the problem. I am a firm believer that people need to take responsibility for their own actions, and eating some delicious sweet hazelnut spread is fine in moderation.
However, I do have an issue with Nutella advertising itself as “healthy,” when it is not. In fact, the US Courts agreed with me and Nutella was found guilty of False Advertising in a class action lawsuit: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/04/nutella-consumer-class-action-settlement/
The point of my post is not that Nutella is the problem, but that we as consumers must think and do our own research and not just buy into what an advertiser tells us to be true.
Thanks again for stopping by and commenting!
I was reading through this post… And I had a couple of comments about it. First of all, a little but of sugar isn’t that bad for you. If it was, fruit would be considered unhealthy. According to the American Heart Association, women are okay to consume 25 grams of sugar a day, and men, 37.5. I try to stay around 20-25. And at least it isnt made with artificial sweeteners–things like Splenda, Sweet ‘N Low, or high fructose corn syrup–which make even sugar look good as far as “healthyness” goes. Also, a little bit of oil isn’t that bad for you either. There are heart healthy fats in oil that are actually good for you (in moderation, of course). There was also a part of the post that confused me. You wrote that the commercial said that Nutella included hazelnuts, skim milk, & cocoa in the ingredients, but when you look on the box, it shows that it includes more than just that. However, I don’t find this misleading at all, because it never said that those were the only ingredients. And like you said, if Nutella was made using only those ingredients, it wouldn’t be very good, so it was pretty clear to me that those weren’t the only ingredients. Also, they never said that it didnt include artificial ingredients, so I don’t understan why that was a surprise either. Also, being at the bottom of the ingredients list, there can’t be that much in it. Anyway, my point is that if you stick to small servings, a little bit of Nutella a day isn’t going to make your children obese–not even close. Some ingredients, like hazelnuts & skim milk are actually healthy. And cocoa, as a matter of fact, is considered a superfood. So no, not all of the ingredients in Nutella are healthy, but there are healthy aspects of Nutella, and those unhealthy parts, in moderation, aren’t going to kill you.
Hi Kalin, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I agree that unhealthy stuff can be fine in moderation. My issue is that the commercial really was touting Nutella as a health food.
This post is from a few years ago, and I see the video is no longer available, so maybe it’s not clear how the ad was espousing Nutella as a health food. In fact, Nutella was sued for false advertising and settled the class action suit in 2012 for $3.05 Million.