Paying Attention

So now that I've made my switch to being vegan, I'm slowly working the rest of all of my vices out of the woodwork. During this process, I've noticed something else has arisen, unexpectedly. I've become hyper-aware of all the bullshit in advertising and the media.

I can't explain it, or even put a finger on where it's coming from. I can, however, tell you that it's a burning fire of anger that usually crops up hearing pure and utter crap. This usually culminates in an intense desire to punch the fuck out of my television, toss it out the window, hit it with my car, set it on fire, and then take a steaming whizz on the ashes. Realistically, it's not my television's fault - nor do I feel like replacing it, quite yet, so I've managed to contain my Office Space moment.

Here's are a few examples of stuff that I've seen recently. The Biggest Loser on NBC is a great inspirational show I concede, hence why I was watching it. The commercials that regularly go out during the show it seems are not enough advertisement. So, NBC has sold little minispots during the show for which the producers cleverly disguise into the show (for which these exists not enough sarcasm for me to express how blatant they are). Once of these big minispots that comes up often is for Extra Sugar Free Gum. I could tolerate this, despite the fact that it only has 5 calories a slice because it's a chemical shitstorm and is sweetened with aspartame... yum!

I could not forgive the 2 minute infomercial they did for cow's milk. Boasting the nutritional benefits and re-emphasizing the high source of protein and calcium contained within. Furthermore, they added dialogue that implied that if you don't drink milk you won't get calcium anywhere else. What they forgot to mention was the blood and pus that goes into every glass, along with the hormones, antibiotics, and chemical crap that gets poured into this "nectar of the gods." The conveniently leave all of these details out to promote this known carcinogen.

This shames me, tremendously. Not in the fact that a majority of Americans are ignorant to the negative aspects of drinking dairy; but that I live in a country whose government actually subsidizes and advertises for this industry (Happy cows come from California was a government ad campaign). It shames me that when I get the question, "But where do you get your calcium," that people look at me like I've grown a third head when I explain I get it from the same place the cow's do... greens. It's like they thought that cow's were blessed with a special organ in their bodies that makes calcium.

Another gem of a commercial is for a well-known spaghetti sauce that depicts a young boy feeding his vegetables to his dog, day after day. Then the narrator comes over, "You don't know where you kid's vegetables go" and then he sells Ragu as the savior! Kids won't give their tomato sauce to their dogs; they will actually eat it, because it's so good! And then mom can benefit by knowing that their child has had their vegetable serving! Isn't that RAD!

You know what happened when I didn't finish my plate as a kid? I was forced to do it or I might get punished. Being punished did not amount to "time-out." It generally involved a belt, and my soon to be red ass. I never even considered feeding food I didn't like to a dog, or hiding it. If I was caught - it would be a veritable shitstorm. I ate what was given to me - including meat (and this my parents did have to force down). Hell - as a punishment, my parents once made me eat scrambled eggs without ketchup. That was fucking hell.

Furthermore, this brand of spaghetti sauce isn't the health food that it's made out to be. Certainly, there are much worse - but christ. It has added sugar and salt as two of the main ingredients along with the ubiquitious "Natural Flavors" which could be anything from ground up insects to something further processed. Furthermore, it has oil and more oil added. Adding olive oil wasn't enough - they had to add some soybean oil later on. Let's add in the fact that we've got dehydrated vegetables in this mix. So, don't give me this crap that it's going to be good for kids.

You know what red pasta sauce is supposed to be? A blend of vegetables in a tomato sauce and not some cheap slew of crap with added sugar and salt. The natural sugars of the tomato and other vegetables should be enough... but not for our American pallets. We have to go and fuck up what nature gave us. Which leads to processed crap in a jar and the advertisements telling us how healthy it is.

It's not and it makes me ill that I bought this bullspit for so long and it's be perpetrated upon the American public. Just say it for what it is, "Because we're a nation of convenience, come buy our processed jar of shit that you can leave in a cabinet for a year without fear of spoilage and dump it on some equally processed pasta and you can pretend that this is a healthy alternative - and you can make it in 15 minutes!"