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American Morning

McDonald's on Sesame Street

Aired October 14, 2003 - 09:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: "Sesame Street," the long-running PBS program, where Elmo and Big Bird teach kids their ABCs, is being underwritten by McDonald's. Some people think that's a bad idea. Even though the sponsorship is limited to logos, opponents say that it will get kids hooked on junk food.
Joining me this morning from Portland, Oregon is the executive director of Commercial Alert, Gary Ruskin. And joining me from Dallas this morning, Virginia Postrel. She's a former editor of "Reason." She's also the author of "The Substance of Style: A Defense of Commercial Culture."

Welcome to both of you.

Gary, let's begin with you this morning.

You're obviously against the idea. Why?

GARY RUSKIN, EXEC. DIR., COMMERCIAL ALERT: Well, this is the sad story of a corruption of a venerable institution, "Sesame Street," which five years ago it was unthinkable that "Sesame Street" would be running ads for McDonald's. What's going to happen next? In five years, are we going to be seeing Bert and Ernie lighting up a Marlboro with coke bottles around their necks?

It's a sat thing. We have an epidemic of obesity in the United States. This is a marketing-related disease, and it's not the proper role of public television, and especially not of sesame street to be promoting products to kids that promote this epidemic of childhood obesity.

O'BRIEN: It sounds like you're saying this is a slippery slope. Virginia, do you think that there is any validity to this argument?

VIRGINIA POSTREL, FMR. EDITOR, "REASON": Well, I think first of all, calling the little spot an ad. I actually watched it on Gary's site. I was surprised. It's not an ad. It just shows somebody watering a plant, and that turns out to be Ronald McDonald. You see his feet. so there is nothing about buying food. There is nothing about Happy Meals. It's a very noncommercial spot.

Also this is not the first -- even the first food company that's underwritten "Sesame Street." Spaghetti-Os, which is -- underwrites "Sesame Street," as does Quaker Oats.

O'BRIEN: Gary, you know what, we just played the commercial, but I want to stop so everybody can really listen to it. First of all, this is what you write in a letter to the president at Sesame Workshop. tonight commercial. This is what you wrote in a letter to the president of sesame workshop. You said "Regrettably, 'Sesame Street' has now become yet another advertising vehicle for McDonald's a hook a new generation of children on its high-calorie junk food." You kind of went on and on and one.

Let's go to the spot so we can see what we're talking about here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Sesame street is brought to you by the following...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: McDonald's, proud sponsor of "Sesame Street." Together, helping imaginations grow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Would you write the same letter? would you send the same condemnation off to the other sponsors, AOL, for example. As we heard from Virginia moments ago, quaker oats, the people who make Spaghetti-Os? Are you sending them letters as well?

RUSKIN: We don't think this kind of marketing to junk food to kids in appropriate in any way. In fact, we think that the European rules of banning advertised television advertising to kids under 12 is the right way to go.

But the point here is that we do have an epidemic of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes in the United States. These are marketed- related diseases. It's a very serious matter when "Sesame Street" is pushing junk food on the nation's kids.

O'BRIEN: Virginia, cooking junk food on the nations' kids -- do you think parents have a responsibility here?

POSTREL: Well, arguably a show that made cookie monster a household name is pushing junk food. But little kids do not get in their cars and drive to McDonald's and put their allowances on the counter and order Happy Meals. I mean this is something that is very much a parenting issue. Parents decide what their children will eat. One difference between children and adults is that children don't have a lot of choice about what they eat. Their parents pretty much determine that. So really, it really is an issue of parental responsibility, and there's nothing wrong with a certain amount of McDonald's in a child's diet.

The question is how much, and what else is the child eating? And these, again, are questions for parental responsibility.

POSTREL: Gary, don't you think -- we will he give you the final word on this, because we're almost out of time -- at the end of the day, mom or dad decides how often little junior should make it to McDonald's, or not.

RUSKIN: We're all for personal responsibility. We think it's a very important thing. But in that, we include the personal the responsibility of Jim Cantalupo, who's the CEO of McDonald's, who spend 600 million a year trying to change our nation's food habits, as well as the head of "Sesame Street," who is a smart guy and who seems to have lost his moral compass entirely by promoting McDonald's to our nation's kids.

O'BRIEN: Well, the head of The Sesame Workshop wrote this letter in response. I'm not sure he would agree with the loss of moral compass there, Gary. He says, "The workshop relies on our corporate underwriters, to include McDonald's Corporation, to bring Sesame Street television to the American public. McDonald's sponsorship messages do not show products, announce promotions or contain any call to action, nor do any of our characters appear in them." That is your final word there.

Virginia and Gary, thanks for your time this morning. An interesting debate. I appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 14, 2003 - 09:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: "Sesame Street," the long-running PBS program, where Elmo and Big Bird teach kids their ABCs, is being underwritten by McDonald's. Some people think that's a bad idea. Even though the sponsorship is limited to logos, opponents say that it will get kids hooked on junk food.
Joining me this morning from Portland, Oregon is the executive director of Commercial Alert, Gary Ruskin. And joining me from Dallas this morning, Virginia Postrel. She's a former editor of "Reason." She's also the author of "The Substance of Style: A Defense of Commercial Culture."

Welcome to both of you.

Gary, let's begin with you this morning.

You're obviously against the idea. Why?

GARY RUSKIN, EXEC. DIR., COMMERCIAL ALERT: Well, this is the sad story of a corruption of a venerable institution, "Sesame Street," which five years ago it was unthinkable that "Sesame Street" would be running ads for McDonald's. What's going to happen next? In five years, are we going to be seeing Bert and Ernie lighting up a Marlboro with coke bottles around their necks?

It's a sat thing. We have an epidemic of obesity in the United States. This is a marketing-related disease, and it's not the proper role of public television, and especially not of sesame street to be promoting products to kids that promote this epidemic of childhood obesity.

O'BRIEN: It sounds like you're saying this is a slippery slope. Virginia, do you think that there is any validity to this argument?

VIRGINIA POSTREL, FMR. EDITOR, "REASON": Well, I think first of all, calling the little spot an ad. I actually watched it on Gary's site. I was surprised. It's not an ad. It just shows somebody watering a plant, and that turns out to be Ronald McDonald. You see his feet. so there is nothing about buying food. There is nothing about Happy Meals. It's a very noncommercial spot.

Also this is not the first -- even the first food company that's underwritten "Sesame Street." Spaghetti-Os, which is -- underwrites "Sesame Street," as does Quaker Oats.

O'BRIEN: Gary, you know what, we just played the commercial, but I want to stop so everybody can really listen to it. First of all, this is what you write in a letter to the president at Sesame Workshop. tonight commercial. This is what you wrote in a letter to the president of sesame workshop. You said "Regrettably, 'Sesame Street' has now become yet another advertising vehicle for McDonald's a hook a new generation of children on its high-calorie junk food." You kind of went on and on and one.

Let's go to the spot so we can see what we're talking about here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Sesame street is brought to you by the following...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: McDonald's, proud sponsor of "Sesame Street." Together, helping imaginations grow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Would you write the same letter? would you send the same condemnation off to the other sponsors, AOL, for example. As we heard from Virginia moments ago, quaker oats, the people who make Spaghetti-Os? Are you sending them letters as well?

RUSKIN: We don't think this kind of marketing to junk food to kids in appropriate in any way. In fact, we think that the European rules of banning advertised television advertising to kids under 12 is the right way to go.

But the point here is that we do have an epidemic of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes in the United States. These are marketed- related diseases. It's a very serious matter when "Sesame Street" is pushing junk food on the nation's kids.

O'BRIEN: Virginia, cooking junk food on the nations' kids -- do you think parents have a responsibility here?

POSTREL: Well, arguably a show that made cookie monster a household name is pushing junk food. But little kids do not get in their cars and drive to McDonald's and put their allowances on the counter and order Happy Meals. I mean this is something that is very much a parenting issue. Parents decide what their children will eat. One difference between children and adults is that children don't have a lot of choice about what they eat. Their parents pretty much determine that. So really, it really is an issue of parental responsibility, and there's nothing wrong with a certain amount of McDonald's in a child's diet.

The question is how much, and what else is the child eating? And these, again, are questions for parental responsibility.

POSTREL: Gary, don't you think -- we will he give you the final word on this, because we're almost out of time -- at the end of the day, mom or dad decides how often little junior should make it to McDonald's, or not.

RUSKIN: We're all for personal responsibility. We think it's a very important thing. But in that, we include the personal the responsibility of Jim Cantalupo, who's the CEO of McDonald's, who spend 600 million a year trying to change our nation's food habits, as well as the head of "Sesame Street," who is a smart guy and who seems to have lost his moral compass entirely by promoting McDonald's to our nation's kids.

O'BRIEN: Well, the head of The Sesame Workshop wrote this letter in response. I'm not sure he would agree with the loss of moral compass there, Gary. He says, "The workshop relies on our corporate underwriters, to include McDonald's Corporation, to bring Sesame Street television to the American public. McDonald's sponsorship messages do not show products, announce promotions or contain any call to action, nor do any of our characters appear in them." That is your final word there.

Virginia and Gary, thanks for your time this morning. An interesting debate. I appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com