They’re Magically Delicious

The idea behind this commercial is to relive one’s youth through cereal consumption. Do we really care that now it is “whole” wheat? It is still a huge sugar load that will eventually zap your energy when your blood sugar level crashes. The reason that so many dietitians advocate many meals a day, or substantial snacks, is that eating products like this lead to sugar highs and crashes. You need a snack at 11 and 3 to keep up your sugar level in the blood. But if you have meals higher in protein and fat, the meal stays with you. 

Experiment on yourself. Have a high cereal/carbohydrate breakfast and see how hungry you feel at 11. Then the next day have a higher fat breakfast like eggs with meat and see how you feel at 11. Most people will be less hungry. 

Why do the cereal companies want you to eat their product? Obviously they make money. 

Cereal	Per Box	Per Ounce
Quaker Oatmeal	2.19	12.2
Grape-Nuts	3.49	14.5
Pop-Tarts	2.19	15.6
Raisin Bran	3.43	17.2
Quaker Natural	5.29	18.0
Quaker Crunchy Corn Bran	2.99	18.7
Corn Flakes	3.39	18.8
Wheaties	3.99	22.2
Shredded Wheat	3.69	24.6
Cocoa Puffs	3.69	24.6
Froot Loops	3.69	24.6
Cheerios	3.79	25.3
Frosted Flakes	3.79	25.3
Corn Pops	4.07	27.1
Kix	4.99	27.7
Rice Krispies	3.79	28.1
Cinnamon Toast Crunch	4.25	30.4
Special K	3.79	31.6

http://www.amyx.org/wazfag/cereal.htm

Here is what the author of this chart had to say about boxed cereal costs:

Normally one would not eat these colors. How do the prices of cereal compare to other foods, like meat?  Well, whole chicken, at $1.29 per pound, is 8.1 cents per ounce; chuck roast, bone in, is 12.4 (both cheaper than Raisin Bran); New York steak is 40.6 cents per ounce; and top round (London broil) is 24.3.  I suppose we might expect a higher quality cut of meat to be more expensive than breakfast cereal, but it could come as a shock to learn that for the same price you pay for Cocoa Puffs or Froot Loops, you could be eating London broil.  Either that, or you can’t compare Raisin Bran and roast beef.

While these figures are from 1999, I doubt that the relative comparison has changed much. 

Try a little experiment the next time you go to the grocery store. Take a calculator, or use your phone and take the price of the boxed cereal and divide by the ounces—then multiple by 16. That is the price per pound. Then go to the meat department and compare. 

I did this in the mountain community where I live. The Lucky Charms cost $6.66 a pound. Hmm. 

The most expensive cuts of meat were 8 to 12 dollars per pound. Perfectly fine sirloin was $4.99, and you could get 2 pounds of chicken for $6. Or one could get 2 1/2 dozen eggs instead of one pound of that cereal. Lucky Charms were not a good value. 

No, this post is not about health, although I will tag it as health. I will also tag it as what this post is really about—propaganda. 

Whenever you see an ad, for anything, they are trying to persuade you to buy a product. Advertising is expensive. Only brands with high profit margins are going to be advertised by the manufacturer. (Of course there are ads by retailers that advertise a product at a cheap price to get you into the store. You can do well if you take an ad, buy those items in the ad that you need, and then leave the store. The store will lose money. Do this to every store and then shop for those items not on sale that you still need.)

Quit watching ad-supported entertainment as much as you can. It is not free, it costs you more than paying for your entertainment. You may think you are not being influenced, but you are. This is a part of leaving Babylon the Great. 

I will talk about propaganda this week. Tomorrow I will have an old video from the 50’s that talks about propaganda.

Are You A Slave?

When I post a video it does not mean I agree with it. In fact, I will sometimes post a video because I disagree with it. In this case, I hope that you will watch the video and think about the theory of history presented. The video, although the producers would strongly disagree with my characterization, is telling the same story as my blog. All though history God is calling his people to leave Babylon and become free. Big Brother was wrong. Freedom is not Slavery.

Repeat

The story is probably apocryphal, but it is one of my favorites.

A consultant asked Proctor and Gamble if they would pay $1 million dollars if he could double their shampoo sales. They agreed. His advice was to add one word to the instructions of “wet hair and apply shampoo.” That word was “repeat.” The story is that they gratefully paid the fee.

Do you actually need to repeat? I doubt it.

As we head toward the prime selling season, we need to ask ourselves a question. Should we participate?

I have not for many years, but it was mostly for religious reasons. Most Christmas customs have little to do with Christianity. While these reasons still exist for me, mainly today the emphasis for me is to avoid the whole mess that is Christmas. Even if the day after Thanksgiving has great sales, I will stay home. Do I really need that soda stream machine that makes your own soda? Trust me, I didn’t and you don’t. While I do use it on occasion, we all know that it belongs in the closet with the other products we buy but do not use.

So if you decide to celebrate Christmas, I have two practical suggestions.

I already have done all my Christmas shopping, this has been true for the last 30 years.The first is to take those things in the closet you do not need and give them away as Christmas presents. Try to remember who gave it to you and give it back! I heard about one fruitcake that has been given back and forth for 20 years!

Another suggestion is to do what my cousin’s family does. Each name is written on paper and each person draws one name. No other presents allowed. There is a limit on the amount to be spent. I think that parents also buy an extra toy for any young children in the family. While this may seem harsh, I bet the joy that will be in the house in January when the Capital One bill is opened will be great. 

The best way to starve Babylon is obvious, do not feed it.

This is one reason our family does not watch TV much anymore. That way we avoid the confusion between wants and needs that advertising brings.

No, do not repeat. Once in the shower is enough.

Don’t Go Along With The Crowd

One of the techniques of propaganda is the bandwagon effect. Here is how Wikipedia describes it: 

The bandwagon effect is a well-documented form of groupthink in behavioral science and has many applications. The general rule is that conduct or beliefs spread among people, as fads and trends clearly do, with “the probability of any individual adopting it increasing with the proportion who have already done so”. As more people come to believe in something, others also “hop on the bandwagon” regardless of the underlying evidence. The tendency to follow the actions or beliefs of others can occur because individuals directly prefer to conform, or because individuals derive information from others. 

Or as the Chinese say, “Three men make a tiger.” This refers to an old story about a Chinese emperor who said that if he was told that there was a tiger loose in the market he would not believe it, but if three men told him ... 

In the same way, it does not matter how many people repeat a rumor or idea, it does not become true just because people believe it. It may be true, or not. It depends on the facts, or as your mother told you, “If all your friends jump off a cliff, will you jump too?” I do not know about you but I always found this annoying, probably because it was true. 

So next Tuesday when your friends and relatives go to vote, ask yourself, “should I jump off the cliff too?”  Is your perception that both candidates are evil? (If you have repeated the phrase “voting for the lesser of two evils,” that is your perception.)  If so, do not vote for evil, or as Exodus 23:2a tells us “Don’t go along with the crowd in doing evil.” 

One bright note of not voting is that no matter who wins, you can put the bumper sticker on your car that says, "Don’t Blame Me, I Didn’t Vote For Him.” 

Argo

I thought the movie Argo was worth watching even though it was clearly a propaganda piece to prepare us for the war on Iran. Here is how Wikipedia summarizes the film:

On November 4, 1979, during the Iranian Revolution, a group of young Iranian revolutionaries took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran in retaliation for the country's support of the recently deposed Shah. Although most of the embassy staff are taken as hostages, six evade capture and hide in the home of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). With the escapees' situation kept secret, the State Department begins to explore options for "exfiltrating" them from Iran. CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), brought in for consultation, points out the fundamental weaknesses in all of the proposals for how to do so, but is at a loss to suggest an alternative until he gets an idea while watching Battle for the Planet of the Apes on TV with his son: create a cover story that the escapees are Canadian filmmakers, scouting "exotic" locations in Iran for a similar film.

Ben Affleck tried very hard to keep the propaganda part of the film under wraps. He begins the film by giving a history of the US’s rather gross interference in Iranian affairs. (He can’t even get that right as he confuses the difference between the parliamentary system of Iran with an elected presidential system.) He must have thought that repeating this history with the obvious corruption and brutality of the US surrogate, the Shah of Iran, would dampen the propaganda nature of the film. He failed in this because ultimately the attitude of the film can be summarized by my paraphrase of one CIA agent in Washington. “The Shah may be a bastard, but he is our bastard.” The dark swarthy Iranians as a stereotype could not be overcome. Even the character of the good Iranian maid could not overcome this stereotype, as the “students” were quite menacing. 

Did Affleck plan a propaganda film? I doubt it. But that is what he made. How can I be certain? The response to the film by the audience tells me it had a great propaganda effect. The applause was rather loud. Another interesting point was the age of the audience. At 58 I was one of the younger members of the audience. While I did not applaud, I did join with the audience in not immediately getting up when the credits rolled. It was a movie that made you think. 

I recommend you see the film. It might even be worth the theatre ticket price—just do not eat the popcorn.