How have cartoon characters earned credibility with children in directing their eating decisions?
Children are naturally going to associate their favorite cartoon characters with something fun. Children lack the insight and experience of adults that tells us packaging has little to do with the nutritional content or quality of the food. People want to blame the parents, but the parents don’t have billions of dollars to spend on counter-advertising. Are there benefits to the cartoon characters? I have seen the Looney Tunes characters and Disney characters on fresh fruits and vegetables. Does that help or cause confusion since they are also on junk food? Most of the 40 children in the study wanted the snacks labeled with cartoon stickers. Most also said the gummy fruit and graham crackers with the stickers tasted better, but not the carrots. The researchers felt that children might not prefer carrots with characters because they are not accustomed to seeing the stickers on healthy foods. Dora and SpongeBob first appeared on packages of fruits and vegetables in 2005. I believe that pa
