Are MLP's dietary standards inappropriate?

[chirox the pony 1,334]

Allow me to explain, you see obesity is a topic that a lot of people are very worried about(because as we all know it's totally someone else's business what you choose to eat). And where I come from(the UK)we've taken a pretty strict(almost soviet communist)stance on products containing sugar or fat. as of now all sugar products are taxed, bullying overweight children is now condoned by the state, and as of now you can't show any kind of sugar/fat based products on children's media, and it was suggested(although I'm not sure if it got through)that all cooking shows that show fatty foods be aired after nine PM at night. In other words showing kids candy is worse than showing them hardcore porn.

 

So where does MLP come into all this, well in FIM there is "GASP" a bakery and Pinkie Pie eats a lot of cake "whilst you're at it why don't you show a naked woman" says the stupid mothers. But despite this MLP still airs in this country, so yeah I'm wondering why no one has complained about there being cake(as well as other sugar products)in this show.

 

Also I would also like to ask if your country is this strict about junk food?

 

P.S The sugar tax is only being proposed(although it will probably get passed anyway).

Edited October 8, 2014 by Thereisnospoon303
Cleaned up for clarification.

[Elegron 168]

ummm, well i live in America so ive clearly never had experience with that, but you do make a good point, although i believe hasbro is strong enough to make exceptions considering its very minor. what are they gunna do? shut down a tv show because it showed a cake on it?

[Fluttershyfan94 5,737]

Oh, yeah it is that strict if not stricter though they plan on taking away the sugar one but people condemn it because of stupidity want to know what happens when you put a tax on sugar. They start using something else for sugar and that was some type of artificial sugar that is so much worse for you and is known to cause cancer. Natural sugar is healthier then some artificial sugar. What I'm saying it's dumb political correctness that has caused this whole mess. It's like they think that everyone wants to eat bananas for the rest of their life's I can eat sugar if I want to. We should be free to do what we want to it's our life and our own body.

 

There is nothing wrong with sugar or anything sweet or fat it's all about eating in moderation.

I do believe it is funny how people have allowed the government to completely tax everything it is wrong for the government to have an impact on what you eat or do. The reason why nobody has complained yet is simply because they haven't I know they will. Everything in today is so strict, instead of asking what you are not allowed to do you ask yourself what am I allowed to do. Like kids aren't allowed to see cakes anymore, seriously? What next, ban pizzas or soda. Just saying, that we should all ask ourselves if it is okay that the government does this. I believe it is not as we should be free to eat what we want and if anything should be done they should rather inform people more of why eating in moderation is important. Not to mention only thing this does to people who are overweight is ripping them off more it's like with smokers they end up going for weed because cigarettes are so expensive. We should put our feet down and say no more.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Fluttershyfan94

[Shanks 10,811]

No, but America's policy about food is a lot more hypocritical in a lot of school they are now banning kids from bringing lunches from home without some asinine thing like a doctors not or something in the name of health. And several cities have passed unconstitutional bans are restrictions on certain foods like New York City's ban on sodas larger than I think it was 16 ounces if I remember correctly and there are all those trans fats bans and restrictions in other cities even though the ingredients that have replaced trans fats are just as bad or in some cases even worse for you. 

 

Despite all of this though there are all of these pesticide laced GMO foods on the market which the companies have fought tooth and nail to prevent from being labeled and big pharma has a stranglehold on the health care system with pills that are in many cases worse than the disease and are deliberately designed to keep people sick so they will buy more pills and a health care reform act that forces people to buy from the same companies that have been ripping them off for years. And some things that are good for you like raw milk for example are heavily restricted or even outright banned because the food industry have bought out all the politicians and regulators. 

Edited October 7, 2014 by EarthbendingProdigy

[boiteporte 591]

 

 

And where I come from(the UK)we've taken a pretty strict(almost soviet communist)stance on products containing sugar or fat. as of now all sugar products are taxed, bullying overweight children is now condoned by the state, and as of now you can't show any kind of sugar/fat based products on children's media, and it was suggested(although I'm not sure if it got through)that all cooking shows that show fatty foods be aired after nine PM at night. In other words showing kids candy is worse than showing them hardcore porn.

 

I have been living in the UK for a very long time and I have not heard of anything like this.

This seems a bit too ridiculous to believe. Do you have any sources ? 

[chirox the pony 1,334]

I have been living in the UK for a very long time and I have not heard of anything like this.

This seems a bit too ridiculous to believe. Do you have any sources ? 

A bit of misinformation on my part, the sugar tax is only being suggested right now(although they'll probably pass it), and the bullying thing is unofficial but judging from the things the government have done they're totally ok with it. And the ban on showing sugar to kids was mentioned on BBC radio 4. And the thing about hardcore porn is my look at the attitude from the masses and the media.

[boiteporte 591]

A bit of misinformation on my part, the sugar tax is only being suggested right now(although they'll probably pass it), and the bullying thing is unofficial but judging from the things the government have done they're totally ok with it. And the ban on showing sugar to kids was mentioned on BBC radio 4. And the thing about hardcore porn is my look at the attitude from the masses and the media.

 

Alright, that makes things clear. Now, there is no need to worry, I think MLP is safe. As for the policy on junk food, I come from France, and there is a law which forbids ketchup in school canteens. This law is totally obsolete but it is one of those laws that is still there even though people totally forgot about it (similar to the law that says you cannot name your pig Napoleon). 

Edited October 7, 2014 by boiteporte

[King Sejong 858]

   By today's standards, almost anything taboo or fun is seen as inappropriate, as our world seem content to ban things or control information for "The common good", truth of the matter is I don't like people telling me, what is best for me, and likewise I will never try to regulate other people's lifestyles. Now, I have lived in the UK before, so I understand the politicking from Westminster, that has a bad habit of taking sides, especially if they have fiscal or aristocratic support, as the surveillance on the public has swelled, and civil rights suspended, Parliament would use its bureaucracy to push political correctness to placate an overly sensitive minority, a policy of appeasement if you will, but MLP will survive, and we will go on even as the state power, rushes in to create rather than correct issues, best left to the citizens to solve, without politics involved.     

[Singe 2,109]

Obesity. Simple. Hasbro releases a workout video with female ponies teaching kids to work out. Lot's of kicking. Camera panning on sweaty flanks.

[Melody Word 237]

Not to mention technically most of them never wear clothing.

[chirox the pony 1,334]

Obesity. Simple. Hasbro releases a workout video with female ponies teaching kids to work out. Lot's of kicking. Camera panning on sweaty flanks.

The images you just transmitted into my mind.....they're horrible.

Not to mention technically most of them never wear clothing.

OMG it's promoting bestiality!

[Melody Word 237]

The images you just transmitted into my mind.....they're horrible.

OMG it's promoting bestiality!

Hmmmm... it's more like nudity... bestiality is wayyyy worse!

[chirox the pony 1,334]

Hmmmm... it's more like nudity... bestiality is wayyyy worse!

Don't you get it, it's a conspiracy by the Illuminati to bring us all into the evil ways of Satan.

[Melody Word 237]

0.0. You speak truth! Ponies will rule all!!!!! (I welcome our new pony overlords.) XD

[CheeryFox 23,811]

Well junk food is quite fabulous and the problem is, it's cheaper and readily more accessible than most other foods. But when you think of MLP, it's a show for kids and in their realm, this stuff shouldn't be out of the ordinary. Unicorns, rainbows, candy, magic -- you get where I'm going with this. 

 

Sugar isn't bad for you, just a person's overindulgence is... 

[Singe 2,109]

Well junk food is quite fabulous and the problem is, it's cheaper and readily more accessible than most other foods. But when you think of MLP, it's a show for kids and in their realm, this stuff shouldn't be out of the ordinary. Unicorns, rainbows, candy, magic -- you get where I'm going with this. 

 

Sugar isn't bad for you, just a person's overindulgence is... 

 

In addtion, there is no evidence of FIM using artitcial stuff like high fructose corn syrup which is in a lot processed foods and is a factor of obesity.

 

The show actually promotes a vegtarian leaning diet which counterblances the sweets made from natural ingredents. There is little to no artifical processed foods around and no meat eating by the ponies.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Singe

[Ocean Melody 116]

Over here in USA, it seems, people practically worship sugar, and the amount of sugar that is in foods

Edited October 7, 2014 by wolfsclaw

[Aeon Of Dreams 115]

If it means anything, and I think a lot of people should take this to heart in fiction whether this particular thing is true or not, portrayal does not mean endorsement. 

[Smokie-Horse 83]

I know of a French cartoon where at one point the protagonists unknowingly kill and consume human beings that have been transformed into pigs against their will. Here's what the show looks like:

 

 

So in the grand scheme of things, I don't think MLP's that bad.

[Jammo 986]

Candyland represents a dark ideal that our comrades must violently fight to prevent.

[A goat 323]

I don't know what conspiracy theorist would think that mlp is innapropriate because pinkie pie sells cupcakes. And I've met alot of conspiracy theorists. 

[chirox the pony 1,334]

I don't know what conspiracy theorist would think that mlp is innapropriate because pinkie pie sells cupcakes. And I've met alot of conspiracy theorists. 

It's not conspiracy theorists who have a problem with sweets being showed on television, it's usually stupid mothers who can't be bothered to raise their own kids.

[Treble Bolt 1,122]

There is actually a psychological difference in how children perceive what they see on TV between shows that involves animals vs. humans.

Because they are watching candy colored equines, they don't associate the sweets found in the show (as the characters are eating) as a diet they can relate to (or desire to mimic). The show has other foods that humans just don't eat (like a daffodil and daisy sandwich with hay fries)....Children might try to mimic the stranger stuff but because the characters aren't human, the effect of the presence of candy and other sugary foods are not easy as associated with a child's own diet. If anything, children will be more apt to feed a cupcake to a real horse than eat it themselves in other words. (I have actually had this happen with one of the girls I watched, she is 6 years old, and tried to feed a cookie to a horse because of that exact logic)....

 

Hybrid shows, such as G 1.5 (horses living in a human world) have actually proven to be confusing to children. That is why you rarely ever such that kind of anthropomorphism in cartoon shows, it just doesn't sell. You either show animals being animals but have some human traits (like FIM does, they are horses moving like horses in a fantasy world that face human problems that children can relate to) or you fully anthropomorphise them (animals wearing clothes, walking on two legs all the time, and being surrounded by human 'stuff')...and hybrids similar to G 1.5 make it work only when there are actual humans in the setting as well. G 1.5 does not work because you have horses that do not wear clothes, walk like horses and seem akin to G1, BUT live in a human world without humans but has everything a human would have...but they are horses. That and you add poor plots and characterization and you get a failure of a show.

 

Humans in tv, on the other hand...is a different story. If a cartoon character is a human, then a child can and will associate foods in that show with their own reality, and thus would be more inclined to mimic the diets they see....This is even more true with reality based shows (live action) like the popular ones seen on the Disney channel. Fully anthropomorphic animals fall into this psychological reaction as well, because the animals are too much human and not enough animal for children to properly distinguish.

 

 

Because of these psychological perceptions that children have, FIM does not fall into the category of being inappropriate due to the food consumption in the show and its effect on a child's own diet. There is actually a lot of science that goes into the creation of child's tv show (believe it or not), because companies think of

1. How can we get kids hooked on this product?- to answer this, they have know what is not only popular, but also what children are naturally attracted to and may become addicted to (in layman's terms)....

2. How can we make this product okay enough for a majority of parents so that they will be willing to spend money on merchandise revolving around this product for their child? If the parent's aren't okay with any particular show, then that show will not only end prematurely, but also will not have much for merchandise because children aren't watching it.

 

[Revy ~ Two Hands 862]

It appears I have stumbled onto Tumblr. Okay I think the fat people need to tell the other people to check their thin privellege and educate themselves or something. But do so using a Pony avatar so that it somehow relates to MLP:Fim so they don't just come off as an attention seeking wierdo with a fake agenda garnered only for their own self satisfaction.

Edited October 8, 2014 by PinkiusPiecus

[Singe 2,109]

Why blame the people who eat the foods or the show that promotes the food? How about blaming the makers of the foods packing so much calories and suger into the food.