virgo
10-30-2007, 09:31 AM
SYDNEY (AFP) - Sleeping pills advertised for children, dangerous toys and bottled water taken from local reservoirs are among the world's worst products, a global consumer group said Monday.
In announcing its bad products awards for 2007, Consumers International said the top prize went to the US subsidiary of Japanese firm Takeda Pharmaceuticals for promoting a sleeping drug for children.
The company ran a television advertisement in the United States which used images of children, chalk boards and a school bus to sell its drug Rozerem.
The "back-to-school" advertisements, which complied with US law, promoted the sleeping pills to parents without including health warnings for children, Consumers International said.
"This case demonstrates the lengths to which some drug companies will go to increase sales of their products, how direct to consumer advertising can promote irrational drug use, and how weak regulation can foster irresponsible corporate behaviour," the group said.
Another award went to drinks giant Coca-Cola for pushing marketing "into the realms of the ridiculous" in the United States and South America with its Dasani bottled water which is sourced from the same reservoirs as local tap water.
Kellogg's, best known for its cereals, was given a bad food award for the worldwide use of cartoon characters and marketing aimed at children despite the high levels of salt and sugar in some foods.
You can read the whole article/report here. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071030/ts_afp/consumerhealthfoodchildren)
It's funny, I just attended a meeting with executives with the Louisville Water Company and they told me the same thing about Dasani water. It's something I never knew before.
In announcing its bad products awards for 2007, Consumers International said the top prize went to the US subsidiary of Japanese firm Takeda Pharmaceuticals for promoting a sleeping drug for children.
The company ran a television advertisement in the United States which used images of children, chalk boards and a school bus to sell its drug Rozerem.
The "back-to-school" advertisements, which complied with US law, promoted the sleeping pills to parents without including health warnings for children, Consumers International said.
"This case demonstrates the lengths to which some drug companies will go to increase sales of their products, how direct to consumer advertising can promote irrational drug use, and how weak regulation can foster irresponsible corporate behaviour," the group said.
Another award went to drinks giant Coca-Cola for pushing marketing "into the realms of the ridiculous" in the United States and South America with its Dasani bottled water which is sourced from the same reservoirs as local tap water.
Kellogg's, best known for its cereals, was given a bad food award for the worldwide use of cartoon characters and marketing aimed at children despite the high levels of salt and sugar in some foods.
You can read the whole article/report here. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071030/ts_afp/consumerhealthfoodchildren)
It's funny, I just attended a meeting with executives with the Louisville Water Company and they told me the same thing about Dasani water. It's something I never knew before.