We’re not sure whether to laugh, weep, or just feel disgusted about the new TV ad targeting America’s favorite food…the almighty hot dog. The commercial shows kids happily munching hot dogs in their school’s cafeteria, when one little boy solemnly reveals, “I was dumbfounded when the doctor told me I have late-stage colon cancer.”

Don’t worry. He doesn’t. But the ad, paid for by a group called The Cancer Project (which is headed by Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) is trying to get people to realize that eating too many hot dogs is, well, kind of gross and unhealthy.

So now everyone’s weighing in on the attention-grabbing commercial. According to this AP article, the American Cancer Society is worried that parents are going to start freaking out, thinking even the occasional hot dog will give their offspring colon cancer. Someone from Harvard’s School of Public Health says avoiding processed meat does makes sense. And the Hot Dog Council (who knew there even was one?) is piping up that hot dogs don’t contain animal eyeballs, hooves or genitals…but they can include pig snouts and cow lips.

Thanks for clearing that up. But, uh, not really helping!
Our advice: Use this ad as a way to talk nutrition and media literacy with your kiddo. But maybe over peanut butter and jelly.
– Posted by Stephanie Booth.

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