The Devious Ad Campaign That Convinced America Coffee Was Bad for Kids

[slimvictor]

In the early 20th century, C.W. Post made a fortune selling his caffeine-free coffee substitute with pseudoscience.

For most of my life, I've assumed that the grotesque amounts of coffee I began drinking around age 12 to keep up with my nightly homework load had something to do with the fact that I grew up to be a good 2-to-3 inches shorter than my pediatrician predicted. Coffee, as we've all heard, is supposed to stunt a child's growth. And I guzzled it from my tweenhood on.

It seems, though, that I assumed wrong. As Smithsonian's Joseph Stromberg recently explained in great piece of pseudoscience debunkery, the idea that coffee is bad for youngsters was actually a myth first propagated by the early 20th century cereal Tycoon, C.W. Post.

Before he developed his signature breakfast products like Grape Nuts, Post went into business in 1895 selling a cereal-based, caffeine-free coffee substitute called Postum. Now, the words "cereal-based, caffeine-free coffee substitute" might sound about as appetizing to you as a wet wad of newspaper. But Post cannily marketed his product as a health beverage while spooking consumers about the allegedly malign effects of coffee on both adults and children.

(...)

Later, the company introduced a comic strip character named Mr. Coffee Nerves, who deviously disrupted his victims' lives by making them irritable and jittery (or causing indigestion). The maddening grip of the coffee bean was so strong, apparently, that it could convince a child to up and run away from home. The ads always wrapped up with a happy ending after the hapless coffee drinker had, of course, switched to Postum.

cont at
http://www.theatlantic.com/business...ad-for-kids/282676/?google_editors_picks=true

 

[slimvictor]

Interesting that this resembles the anti-cannabis campaign, but was earlier - maybe because of the commercial interests rather than the "merely" ideological concerns (e.g. of Henry Ainslinger) opposing cannabis use.

(But I still wouldn't give my own kids coffee... too much caffeine!)

 

[pofacedhoe]

it does cause issues in teens.

sleeping problems and anxiety issues

 

[Mysterie]

its good to see this positive message, being aimed at the most beneficial target audience, the more open and next generation

if all of us can bring up our kids as good parents, then the next generation has a better chance at fixing all of these mistakes that have been building the past 500+ years

 

[TheRapperGoneBad]

I started drinking coffee around 16/17.
I can see some downsides of use like P.F.H mentioned but it can also be helpful in day to day life.

Correction December 28:An earlier version of this article stated incorrectly that Mormons are forbidden from drinking caffeine. In 2012, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsclarifiedthat its traditional ban on "hot drinks" only encompassed coffee and tea, and not other caffeinated beverages, such as sodas. We regret the error.

Lol

Interesting how cw post had the market complete under control threw false advertising and brain wash. That dude from the comic strip was actually pretty creepy.