Dear Ferret Folks-

Well, um....ferrets do attack more people than grizzly bears. Certainly
they do in *my* house. If Puma could use a chain saw she *would*. I
thought the ad was cute until the ladies leg was sliced off, I didn't
need that at all, regardless of what critter did that. I think it will
scare little kids, who really do watch TV at all hours regardless of
what ad agencies claim about target audiences and airing times. I think
it completely ruined the ad and made it an ugly thing. I don't want my
little nephew RJ, three, who is already scared of Puma to see that ad.
He spends the night here sometimes and I have to go through a big
elaborate thing to show him that Puma is caged before he goes to sleep.
He loves Ping, fears Puma. (So does Renee Downs! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!) But
honestly, the biggest issue for me is the violence, not the ferret.

If it helps you ladies out there who count calories, yours, and your
kids, (who are the target Mountain Dew market!) here are some facts
about Mountain Dew.
<http://amm.mndental.org/client_files/documents/Sip_All_Day_Presentation.pdf>
This link brings you to an Adobe Presentation from the Minnesota Dental
Association entitled "Kids, Teens, and Soft Drinks (Get Ready to Gulp)"
It says right on the first page:

"A 12 ounce can of Mountain Dew contains 11 teaspoons of sugar. A
person who drinks two cans per day consumes more than 1.5 POUNDS of
sugar per week from Mountain Dew alone." (Emphasis mine.)

Eleven teaspoons of sugar a can.

Keep scrolling down, here comes the calorie count. a 12 ounce can? 165
calories. A 20 ounce bottle? 275. A 64 oz. Big Gulp? 880.

Keep scrolling. The fun isn't over yet. They rank Mountain Dew, Persi
One, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Sunkist Orange Soda (Which is
actually the highest calorie drink of the bunch at 190 calories for
a 12 oz. can) and Coke Classic in terms of caffiene content. Mountain
Dew and Pepsi One win, with 55 mg. per 12 oz. can. As the PDF notes a
little farther up, "A 20 oz. bottle of Mountain Dew contains 92
milligrams of caffiene, nearly equivalent to an adult dose of NoDoz.".
True, coffee has more caffeine per ounce, but do you pour 11 teaspoons
of sugar into your two six oz. two cups of coffee? Probably not. Would
you give that to your kid? Probably not.

I realize that the ferret ad is for new, Diet Dew. I had to go to the
Mountain Dew site for that. http://www.mountaindew.com/ Got kids? Care
what goes in their faces? Check out the site. It's a VIDEO GAME. There
is a message there about who this stuff is marketed to.

I got the stats for *eight* ounces of Diet Dew. calories, 36 milligrams
of caffeine. You'll have to do the math for a 12 oz. can and the 20 oz.
I don't see the caffiene having changed a lot. Now. Is your kid going
to reach for the Diet Dew? Are you? This stuff is garbage. If you want
to send a message, don't buy it, or it's sickeningly sweet original.
The thought of it is enough to make my teeth hurt.

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 5613]