Dear Ms Special K

Morag

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/06/25/dear-ms-special-k/

Doolee

Lol! Thats great!

I actually got a call a few years back from a casting agent guy who was gathering a few ladies to be cast for one of those ads and he needed to check with me what my BMI was and to confirm that I was tall. He said they never used girls below the healthy bmi range and therefore required tall girls (im a six footer) within the healthy range.

Still totally do not approve of that crazy 2 bowls 2 weeks diet thing they push.

Anyway, just thought Id tell ye

what's infuriating is that you're nearly healthier eating a bowl of frosties. it's cardboard sugary muck. I go insane when i hear anyone saying "im so healthy, i had special k for breakfast"
:mad:

Doolee

bluewolf wrote: »

I go insane when i hear anyone saying "im so healthy, i had special k for breakfast"
:mad:

Me too
But then I take a deep breath and think well, can you blame them. We're all suckers for marketing tactics one way or another...and then I subtly point out the merits of porridge and eggs etc.

Doolee

Doolee wrote: »

Me too
But then I take a deep breath and think well, can you blame them. We're all suckers for marketing tactics one way or another...and then I subtly point out the merits of porridge and eggs etc.

Oh yes of course

Asphyxia

That is hilarious

I tried eating Special K a few times and yes it's alright but I'd much prefer a nice bowl of porridge, muesli or some scrambled eggs it's 10 times more good for you than Special K.

Those ads are still nowhere near as bad as those "Just For Men" ads - if you have grey hairs you won't get the job/the woman/your kids won't respect you.

Piss off. I have no grey hairs yet, but I can't wait until I do.

southsiderosie

Deleted User wrote: »

Those ads are still nowhere near as bad as those "Just For Men" ads - if you have grey hairs you won't get the job/the woman/your kids won't respect you.

Piss off. I have no grey hairs yet, but I can't wait until I do.

That's ok - men with grey hairs look 'distinguished', rather than 'OLD'.

It's sad (but not surprising) that the beauty/cosmetics industry is doing its damndest to make men feel just as insecure about their appearance as many women do.

southsiderosie

Deleted User wrote: »

Those ads are still nowhere near as bad as those "Just For Men" ads - if you have grey hairs you won't get the job/the woman/your kids won't respect you.

Piss off. I have no grey hairs yet, but I can't wait until I do.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, if you don't look like the woman in the Special K ad, you won't get a man, so you will never have kids to disrespect you, and you will die lonely and alone and be eaten by wild dogs.

krudler

Deleted User wrote: »

Those ads are still nowhere near as bad as those "Just For Men" ads - if you have grey hairs you won't get the job/the woman/your kids won't respect you.

Piss off. I have no grey hairs yet, but I can't wait until I do.

I'd love to go grey, no covering up for me am gonna rock that sh1t like a silver fox

WesternNight

An acquaintance of mine is a 'health freak' and prides herself on not eating any 'junk' food or drinking the 'evil that is diet coke' etc etc yet includes the likes of Special K without batting an eyelid. It's always struck me as a bit strange.

I guess the marketing works.

Maybe it's part of the whole 'if it tastes crap it must be good for you' :cool:

krudler

WesternNight wrote: »

Maybe it's part of the whole 'if it tastes crap it must be good for you' :cool:

If thats the case rice cakes should you give you super powers.

squeakyduck

Am I the only person who likes the taste of special K?

I eat it if I am at home and it's there I don't specifically go out to buy it or annything. I much prefer eggs toast or something like coco pops for my breakfast!

I don't agree with two bowls of that stuff a day I would get bored of it fairly quickly, less time should be spent eating and more time out in that sun... you can get fit and get a tan.... WIN WIN!

akamossy

I quite like the taste of it too!

Gauge

Oh, I love the taste of Special K, it's so sweet, I could easily put away half a box of it in a sitting with some nice cold milk but if I had to survive on one teeny tiny serving for breakfast with skimmed milk as the Special K plan recommends I would be a raging cow by mid-morning.

A girl who eats this stuff (because it's "healthy") once told me I shouldn't be eating eggs for breakfast because there's so much fat in them

Fly High

I love the taste of it too! Love a big bowl of it for brekkie, I've never tried any of the other flavours of it but it is really good with fresh strawberries...

It clearly can't be good for you if it's tasty though right??

WesternNight

Gauge wrote: »

A girl who eats this stuff (because it's "healthy") once told me I shouldn't be eating eggs for breakfast because there's so much fat in them

Ha. I hope you mentioned all the vitamins and minerals and protein that's also in them!

I always found Special K to be deceptively savoury. At least with Frosties or whatever you can really taste the sugar so you're not under any illusions that there's a fair bit in them, but with Special K it's less obvious in the taste, I've found.

Scarinae

Gauge wrote: »

A girl who eats this stuff (because it's "healthy") once told me I shouldn't be eating eggs for breakfast because there's so much fat in them

My old flatmate told me not to buy grapes because they're 'fattening'. This same girl would eat an entire packet of custard creams by herself because they have 'low weightwatchers points'. Moral of the story, some people talk a lot of shíte!

I think Special K is alright, but it isn't particularly filling, and it's quite expensive compared to other breakfast cereals. I prefer Weetabix myself (too lazy to make porridge every morning!)

Doolee

Fishie wrote: »

My old flatmate told me not to buy grapes because they're 'fattening'. This same girl would eat an entire packet of custard creams by herself because they have 'low weightwatchers points'. Moral of the story, some people talk a lot of shíte!

:eek:
Mother of God what a misinformed nation we are! But the thing is, I used to really love Special K too, and as a kid it was all about Crunchy Nuts and Frosites! But its the same as liking cakes and buns (which i do!) but at least we all know these things are bad. Special K is like the adults sugary cereal!
...and dont even get me started on those "Krave" adverts for that new cereal...freekin chocolate filled yolks totally aimed at kids! I swear, any parent who buys those for their kids wants lockin up!

Acoshla

Special K is such sh*te, it amazes me that they have the nerve to promote it as something so healthy. And then sure why don't you throw in some dehydrated crappy bits of "strawberry", or even better just feck in some chocolate!

Kellogg's website says: "At 120 calories per serving, the crunchy rice and wheat flakes (and oh-so-yummy chocolatey pieces) are the perfect way to get your chocolate fix without undoing your day". It's embarrassing to see the ads, like us poor silly women with our chocolate addictions need to have some of it, I really hate it.

Something my grandmother used to say about Corn Flakes applies to Special K too I think - might as well be eating the box.

Edit: Although to be fair the notion of most cereals as breakfast fascinates me, and as mentioned above why on Earth is it a normal idea to suggest sugar and chocolate for breakfast for anyone, but kids in particular?? It's sad, eat some feckin fruit, porridge or wholegrain toast, not cereal, chocolate or Nutella!!

Scarinae

Acoshla wrote: »

Something my grandmother used to say about Corn Flakes applies to Special K too I think - might as well be eating the box.

The whole point of cornflakes is that they're bland. From Wikipedia:

In 1894, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the superintendent of The Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan and an Adventist, used these recipes as part of a strict vegetarian regimen for his patients, which also included no alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine. The diet he imposed consisted entirely of bland foods. A follower of Sylvester Graham, the inventor of graham crackers and graham bread and supporter of sexual abstinence, Kellogg believed that spicy or sweet foods would increase passions. In contrast, cornflakes would have an anaphrodisiac property and lower the sex drive.

I suppose it's clever marketing that has made them become a breakfast staple. They don't play up the bland angle anymore!

cdaly_

I find Special K too sweet. These days, even cornflakes are a bit sweet. Shredded Wheat (straw in milk) or porridge for me...

Jack B. Badd

Fishie wrote: »

They don't play up the bland angle anymore!

In all fairness, they don't play up the anti-masturbation angle anymore either

I don't like special k taste wise either. But then I've completely gone off cereal anyway

Wibbs

krudler wrote: »

I'd love to go grey, no covering up for me am gonna rock that sh1t like a silver fox

Well ahead of ya Ted. :P Though I do know a fair few middle aged blokes who've gone the old Just for men route. Not always with bad results TBH. One close mate of mine it took years off him(I gather from him it turns your hair green for a while at first :eek:). Problem being they all get that same dark brown almost ginge look. When he told me of his use I noticed soooo many others. Especially on the telly. Watch any primetime episode with a panel and spot the ginger foxes.

Though Just for men while maybe a little vain(not so bad), isn't likely to cause or promote unhealthy body image and worse unhealthy lifestyles to seek out that body image. Ditto for ads where Cheryl cole promotes hair products while most of her hair was harvested from some Indian lassie looking for a few bob. Then you get eyelash extension goo where the model is using artificial eyelash extensions. Or anti wrinkle cream ads with 16 year olds modeling the "results" Or the subject of the Special K ad where the woman in question is well honed by mucho gym time and very healthy diet. Oh and the obvious application of Photoshop dieting. That bus ad is really obvious for that(around her waist). You couldn't make some of this guff up.

It would be hilarious but for the unrealistic and unhealthy choices that can come from this low level daily bombardment. Even more cynical for me is the "real women" stuff funny enough. But when you have women going for "intimate" skin bleaching you figure WTF? When you have a woman that is the example of the "perfect" form for our culture and they still have to tweak her further, something is daft. I've known women with that build and all the effort they put into it who still feel "fat" and "bloated"(shorthand for fat IME) it's really daft. When you have women(and increasingly men) pumping the most dangerous toxin produced by an organism - botulinum - into their skin, often by amateurs, even at Botox parties, one does wonder at the low level madness of it all. You really couldn't make it up. What next? Plague bacilli for weightloss(guaranteed but with some permanent side effects...).

And yes aside from the whataboutery they are trying to target men now to a lesser degree. They'd be at it more if it had been more in the background for longer like with the ladies where they're more primed for it(its defo not a gender thing). Though maybe it's a generational thing with men? With my own generation, beyond the oul Grecian 2000 stuff it doesn't seem to be so prevalent, but I am getting the impression it's being felt by men below me in the generations. Maybe a good thread for tGC*?





*that's about as subtle as I can muster.

metrovelvet

As PT Barnum said, there is a sucker born every minute. The snake oil salesman will never lose his charm. We are wired for it.

krudler

Acoshla wrote: »

Edit: Although to be fair the notion of most cereals as breakfast fascinates me, and as mentioned above why on Earth is it a normal idea to suggest sugar and chocolate for breakfast for anyone, but kids in particular?? It's sad, eat some feckin fruit, porridge or wholegrain toast, not cereal, chocolate or Nutella!!

hush, nutella on toast is awesome

Aishae

squeakyduck wrote: »

Am I the only person who likes the taste of special K?

I eat it if I am at home and it's there I don't specifically go out to buy it or annything. I much prefer eggs toast or something like coco pops for my breakfast!

I don't agree with two bowls of that stuff a day I would get bored of it fairly quickly, less time should be spent eating and more time out in that sun... you can get fit and get a tan.... WIN WIN!

i really like the taste too though i only have it when i stay at my grannys house. she loves the stuff. though she mainly gets tesco's version of it.

i know its full of sugar though, so thats why i dont buy it. i stick to toast or rice crispies. or a lot of tea (so healthy(!) ha.... )

its funny i was only saying the other day after seing a special k add. they never look even slightly chubby when they struggle to get on their jeans or that. you know the ad with a woman sat by the pool - covered up - inflates her sons water ring and has some sort of epiphany - in the end shes in a one piece strutting her stuff. wasnt a pick on her before. actually im not sure if that was special k.... but ive always felt that way about those ads.

Macha

metrovelvet wrote: »

As PT Barnum said, there is a sucker born every minute. The snake oil salesman will never lose his charm. We are wired for it.

Well it helps when you start getting groomed for insecurities from a young age, as most girls are. There are many depressing statistics showing younger and younger girls hating their bodies and dieting.

And then Kelloggs makes money out of them being more worried about their dress size than the nutritional content of their diet. Result!

Edit: As others have said, Special K is the nutritional equivalent of cardboard but worse because it has added sugar and pretends to be healthy. Almost any other type of breakfast would be better for you.

Acoshla

krudler wrote: »

hush, nutella on toast is awesome

Oh Hells yeah it's one of my favourite things, just not for breakfast every day

Logical Fallacy

WesternNight wrote: »

An acquaintance of mine is a 'health freak' and prides herself on not eating any 'junk' food or drinking the 'evil that is diet coke' etc etc yet includes the likes of Special K without batting an eyelid. It's always struck me as a bit strange.

I guess the marketing works.

Maybe it's part of the whole 'if it tastes crap it must be good for you' :cool:

To be honest, a lot of "health freaks" never really look too deep into what they do or why.

If you follow popular healthy living advice you'll be dead by 50 I reckon.

Wolfe Tone

Special K is delicious!

The Ad has inspired me to buy a red swimsuit but only because you never see a plain red swimsuit and the colour took my fancy....so I am making it my mission to hunt one down.

Shoe Lover

I tried the "Drop a Jean Size in Two Weeks" Special K thing a few years ago! I lasted until about 3pm on the first day! Two 30g bowls of cereal until dinner time - sure I was starving and ready to eat the legs off the kitchen table Was the last time I tried a fad diet!

Malari

I love the taste of Special K, but only get it sometimes. Usually end up eating a bowl in the afternoon, as opposed to for breakfast though.

The problem is the Head & Shoulders effect. "I didn't know you had dandruff - I don't!" Someone sees you buying Special K now they assume you have been lured in by the "drop a dress size" ads and want to lose weight. Sometimes I just buy stuff as a result of my own decision making process and not because I've consulted an ad to see if I'm a suitable candidate for their product :eek::pac:

Penny Dreadful

southsiderosie wrote: »

Oh, and I forgot to mention, if you don't look like the woman in the Special K ad, you won't get a man, so you will never have kids to disrespect you, and you will die lonely and alone and be eaten by wild dogs.

In all fairness to Special K it could be your own pet dogs that eat you...........after you've died all alone with no man, no kids to hate you and all because you simply insisted on eating porridge and wearing a blue swimsuit rather than red.

wild_cat

Shoe Lover wrote: »

I tried the "Drop a Jean Size in Two Weeks" Special K thing a few years ago! I lasted until about 3pm on the first day! Two 30g bowls of cereal until dinner time - sure I was starving and ready to eat the legs off the kitchen table Was the last time I tried a fad diet!

I'm actually surprised that they got away with that drop a jean size thing!

What was even worse is that I seen slim girls at work trying it.. You were only meant to do it if you had a BMI of over 25...

I presume you'd be under eating on the plan therefore when you go back to normal eating patterns the weight will just pop back on..

Healthy diet and exercise is the only way.. no such thing as a quick fix.

Elle Collins

wild_cat wrote: »

I'm actually surprised that they got away with that drop a jean size thing!

So am I. It so obviously promoted unhealthy eating and homed in on womens body insecurities. Mad..

Gauge

Actually, nothing bloats me like sugary carbs do. If I'd tried the Special K diet I'd probably be UP a jeansize by lunchtime think they'd give me a refund?

teekayd25

I quite like Special K but being male I obviously can't be seen with it in my shopping basket. A while back I noticed Lidl were doing a Special K-type cereal under the gender-neutral name "Wellness Flakes", but then they went and stuck a woman on the cover :mad:

southsiderosie

teekayd25 wrote: »

I quite like Special K but being male I obviously can't be seen with it in my shopping basket. A while back I noticed Lidl were doing a Special K-type cereal under the gender-neutral name "Wellness Flakes", but then they went and stuck a woman on the cover :mad:

Couldn't you be shopping for your wife/girlfriend? Just throw a box of tampons on in there, and you'll be set.

lilsis

teekayd25 dunnes do a version called especially you (or something similar) and there's no girl on that box if you wanted to get them!

newbee22

Brilliant!
Although I do love Special K, I know that it's not going to make me look like the Special K lady, I can live in hope though!:o

ellasommer

squeakyduck wrote: »

Am I the only person who likes the taste of special K?

I eat it if I am at home and it's there I don't specifically go out to buy it or annything. I much prefer eggs toast or something like coco pops for my breakfast!

I don't agree with two bowls of that stuff a day I would get bored of it fairly quickly, less time should be spent eating and more time out in that sun... you can get fit and get a tan.... WIN WIN!

Special K Red Berries rule the world!

amdublin

bluewolf wrote: »

what's infuriating is that you're nearly healthier eating a bowl of frosties. it's cardboard sugary muck. I go insane when i hear anyone saying "im so healthy, i had special k for breakfast"
:mad:

Doolee wrote: »

Me too
But then I take a deep breath and think well, can you blame them. We're all suckers for marketing tactics one way or another...and then I subtly point out the merits of porridge and eggs etc.

Yep. Cornflakes is actually "lower fat" and less salt than Special K. But I guess they just market the SK as the low fat product.

beagle001

Special K is overpriced cardboard with a great marketing campaign that uses georgeous women in their prime to trick folk into buying this muck.
Cannot go wrong with a bowl of porridge and a couple of egg whites.

WesternNight

beagle001 wrote: »

Cannot go wrong with a bowl of porridge and a couple of eggs.

Fixed!

Nothing wrong with the yolks

argosy2006

I love Special K , i have a bowl every day!

beagle001

Ha,I am after pure protein and too many yolks clog me arteries.

molly09

which is lower in calories cornflakes or rice krispies ??

Also are most muselis not full of sugar

I have really started trying to eat breakfast well within one hour of getting up!!!!

so other than fruit, yoghurt, wholemeal toasted bread, just wondering what cereals are the best to try

I dont eat eggs, meat and not the biggest fan of porridge

M

Dolbert

beagle001 wrote: »

Ha,I am after pure protein and too many yolks clog me arteries.

Fair enough if you only want pure protein, but eggs causing cholesterol is a myth - there is no need to restrict them.

molly09 wrote: »

which is lower in calories cornflakes or rice krispies ??

Also are most muselis not full of sugar

I have really started trying to eat breakfast well within one hour of getting up!!!!

so other than fruit, yoghurt, wholemeal toasted bread, just wondering what cereals are the best to try

I dont eat eats, meat adn not the biggest fan of porridge

M

Oats are great, but like you I dislike the texture of porridge.
Here's a great recipe for oat pancakes, the best part is you can make them the night before and just heat them up in the morning!
Nyom with a bit of peanut butter on top