This has been a stellar week in the world of nutrition and food politics. Early in the week, word got out that there is a move to rename high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) (apparently because sales have hit an all-time low). If this marketing strategy works, this sweetener will appear in food labeling as"corn sugar".
American consumers responded rapidly and impressively. All over Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere, it was clear that people did not take kindly to this information. They were insulted that the industry attempting to score this change in nomenclature assumed they were so stupid. And the worst way to maintain brand loyalty is to insult the people who give you money.
It's not looking like a name switch is gonna do it for the struggling HCFS industry. People have decided to take charge of their own health.
Later in the week, a major food company that uses HCFS as its sweetener, despite having been petitioned by consumers not to, announced a partnership with a major association representing health professionals. I'm not naming or linking to either party, because that would be rewarding them for acollaboration which is dubious at best.
It seems that this food company has decided to show interest in consumer health by using some of the money they earned by selling food containing an ingredient, HFCS, that is increasingly being associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and liver problems, among others…to pay for nutrition counseling purchased by the customers who bought that food and are now in need of health advice regarding what to do about it.
HUH?!?!?!? I'm not a WTF kind of writer, but WTF?!?!?
I'm not sure what the expectation here is, for those who accept money for providing these subsidized counseling visits? Are they expected to edit their advice? Overlook the glaring reality that one thing that may need to be eliminated from the diet…is the food that paid for their time in the first place?
My advice? Skip the middle men. Either don't buy the product, and if you find you still need health advice, use the money you therefore saved, to pay for it. Or, if you must have the product, look around for a version that is HCFS free. They are there.
This will hopefully be the next marketing faux-pas on the list of historic blunders. The one that includes the American car manufacturers tried to sell cars with steering wheels on the wrong side rather than make cars that worked with their customers' traffic rules.
When you stop listening to your customers, and act as though you know better than those customers what they want and need, your customers stop patronizing you.