Have you seen the latest Dairy Queen commercial? A mom walks in her living room, sees her kids playing and notices a commercial for an ice cream treat on TV. It looks so good, she asks the kids if they want to go get one. She leaves, and the boys turn off the video; the commercial wasn't on TV -- they had recorded it and played it in hopes of tricking their mom. It cracks me up every time.

The see-and-eat concept falls right in line with a recent post on CafeMom. Michael Pollan, author of The New York Times best seller "The Omnivore's Dilemma," recently said in an interview that we shouldn't buy food we see advertised. He has a point -- burgers, fries, sweet treats and other goodies are advertised non-stop, but commercials for fruits, vegetables and other healthful foods are more rare.

Tell me: Are your eating habits influenced by commercials?

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If you're an everyday athlete -- a Saturday night softball league pitcher, a runner who beats the pavement nightly, a biker who braves back country trails, a hard-core gym rat, or any other fitness enthusiast you may be just the person Gatorade is looking for.

One catch ... your name has to be Serena.

Gatorade is going to launch a new campaign for its G2 sports drink. They're looking for everyday athletes (who happen to be named Serena) to star in commercials with tennis great, Serena Williams. Shape magazine has the details.

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I just had the TV on and the above commercial ran. I about choked on my glass of water when I read the fine print:

• Results Not Typical. Clinical studies have shown average caloric intake was reduced by 12.5 percent to 30 percent.
• Cartoon Dramatization. Results not typical. Real people require diet and exercise to lose body fat.
  

Bummer. I'm a real person so I guess I can't expect to lose weight as quickly as that cartoon did.

Most fast food meals make me feel a little ill -- yet often, when I catch a fast food commercial running on TV, the food looks so good I salivate like Pavlov's dog. That's exactly what those commercials are designed to do -- make you crave a trip to your nearest fast food joint for whatever triple-decker, bacon-packed, artery-clogging burger they're advertising this week.

A recent study reviewed data on nearly 13,000 children to determine how many advertising commercials most children view on TV each week. Researchers believe the commercials have a big impact on the amount of children who eat fast food. They estimate that banning fast food commercials from TV would reduce obesity in children ages 3-11 by 18 percent and by 14 percent in adolescents ages 12-18.

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Kristen told us about the recently-launched high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) ad campaign. By now, you've probably seen the commercials. The ads bother me to no end. Not only because they imply that HFCS is natural ("it's made from corn") but because of the disturbing way the people are portrayed.

The people who are concerned about HFCS in the commercials come off rude, condescending, and uninformed. Seriously. Would you actually tell a friend that you don't think they care what they feed their kids? On the other hand, the people who think HFCS is fine are knowledgeable and polite. Personally, I think the commercials poke fun at people who are health-conscious and care about what they put in their bodies.

CBS News launched an investigation and found that three of the six studies supporting the Corn Refiners Association's claim that HFCS is no different than sugar were funded by organizations that stand to profit from HFCS acceptance. It's not unusual for parties with a vested interest to fund studies, but it does give reason to raise a questioning eyebrow.

[via FitSugar]

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It's all about the beer. So say that ads, anyway. And, there's no harm in cracking open a cold one once and a while, so long as you're not drinking them with near abandon.

This also applies for those so-called "healthy" beers. You know, the Michelob Ultras and other brands that feature very fit people exercising in their ads, as if the beer was a sports drink. While it is true that these beers tend to have less calories (thereby making them the better choice in that department), drink a six pack a night and you're guaranteed to look nothing at all like the men and women pictured in the ads.

Simply put, one Michelob Ultra = 95 calories. A six-pack of Michelob Ultra = 570 calories. Considering that the FDA recommends a daily caloric intake of around 2,000, you will have less than 1,500 to spare after your "healthy" beer binge.

As a rule, young men tend to get into more accidents than women and these tend to be more serious and result in more fatalities. Excessive speed is a common cause of these traffic wrecks. I'm a girl but I'll readily admit that when I was younger I definitely enjoyed testing the speed limit from time to time. I try to keep this in check now that I'm both older and, after losing a friend (who was only 19 and a male, by the way) in a car accident, wiser.

So the question is, how do you get young and inexperienced drivers, especially male ones, to slow down? They're taking a unique and somewhat dark approach in Australia with ads that show women insinuating that men who drive too fast have small, er, well, you know.

The country used to promote save driving by showing images of gory car crashes caused by speeding but the group that created the adverts believes that, as young men are increasingly desensitized to bloody images due to horror films and violent video games, the old ads weren't getting through. Now they're hoping to convince the guys to slow down by saying that those who race around behind the wheel are overcompensating because they have small penises.

It's an interesting approach to go after their sense of pride but I'm not so sure it will work. What do you think? And can you think of a similar idea that would work for girls who have a lead foot?

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