The first six teaspoons

I thought it pretty ironic. Two section headlines, same newspaper, same day. One in the business section, talking about a new advertising campaign. One in the life section, talking about a health report.

The business section article was about the plan by Nestle to remind consumers of Canada’s best selling chocolate bar, Kit Kat, to take time to take a break, and, of course, enjoy a Kit Kat while doing so. Apparently, the problem Nestle has identified is that consumers are working too hard and failing to take breaks, thereby eating into, so to speak, potential Kit Kat sales opportunities.

The company knows this because it has conducted interviews over the last year or so with some 6,700 people. So even though Kit Kat tops the sales heap already, and it doesn’t appear that any competitor is gaining on it, Nestle is spending more on this campaign than it has ever spent on the chocolate bar in Canada before. According to the company’s director of confectionary marketing, “it’s all about supporting the brand.”

And you can tell that the creative minds have been hard at work. One of the techniques to be featured in the campaign will be a mobile phone application called Break Assist, which will act as a trigger to lure workers away from their desks. The user will be able to trigger a phone call that will generate a recorded message that ‘coaches’ the user through the steps needed to find an excuse to take a break. Some messages are rational— the neighbours are coming for dinner, while some are not—a Russian satellite has landed in the backyard (which one: Georgia?). And apparently, some are absolutely hilarious (Japan is calling) (I still don’t get that one).

But the article made no mention of the subject matter of the other headline in the life section. That latter article was a followup to coverage of new World Health Organization (WHO) draft guidelines on the recommended level of daily sugar and sugar-added-to-other-foods intake, and was illustrating how easy it was to bump over the WHO draft limits. The WHO is proposing to halve its previously suggested intake level to about six teaspoons per day – and one Kit Kat bar contains about five teaspoons. So, if you were to take a break with your Kit Kat bar every day, you would essentially only be allowed to sniff the pop (15 teaspoons), orange juice (10 teaspoons), instant oatmeal (three teaspoons), yogurt (two teaspoons) or whatever else you chose from which to get your sugar fix.

In fact, Canadians breach these limits spectacularly, consuming on average about 26 teaspoons of sugar a day, or more than four times the new draft limit, and twice the previous one. The WHO suggests that bad health outcomes and their attendant costs are the consequence.

Now, obviously, the Kit Kat example is just one; and it’s by no means the most serious. I would be more concerned if I were a pop dealer or fruit juice dealer (never mind an alcohol or tobacco dealer). But there is some irony, is there not? Do product marketing and corporate citizenship belong in separate silos? Did nobody in those 6,700 interviews raise any concern about the health connection? Were they asked?

Nestle’s Canadian corporate website states that “our vision is to help Canadians live healthier and happier lives. We want to help you make healthy choices in the food and beverages you buy. We accomplish this by doing what we do best: by making our products more nutritious and better for you, by providing products in different sizes to suit your needs and by offering nutritional information to help you make informed choices. We also believe that good food sometimes means treating yourself! This is why we offer a wide-ranging portfolio of products that not only taste better, but are also nutritious. Our products allow you to take pleasure in eating quality food and beverages as part of a well-balanced lifestyle. We believe this balanced lifestyle forms the foundation of a happier life.”

That is a very sophisticated statement. The company is in the nutrition business, but also in the pleasure business; and it’s up to the consumer to make informed decisions and live a balanced life. The risk is offloaded to the customer. What more can we expect a company to do, if we can’t expect it to slit its own sales throat? Just who should we expect to play the role of nagging mother: the government?

And my conscience is reminding me, in no uncertain terms, that I am not the best person to be running the individual social responsibility flag up the flagpole. Didn’t you just take an outing to Campbellford to buy some bulk factory-outlet-priced dark chocolate covered almonds? Wasn’t that Rogers chocolates I saw you eating a couple of weeks ago? Just how many Coffee Crisp bars (also made by Nestle, and celebrating their 75th anniversary this year) have you bought over a lifetime?

Let he who is without sin cast the first six teaspoons of sugar.

dsimmonds@wellingtontimes.ca