A diet cereal maker is telling us to shhhhut the fat talk

Unfortunately, many of us do succumb to negative thoughts about our bodies; we – for myriad different reasons including being bombarded with YouTube ads for diet cereals – lose touch with our self worth and forget that we’re special regardless of how we look. But 93 per cent? Really? That seems like a big claim to make.

Anyway.

After enlightening a bunch of self-critical women on just how “damaging” their fat talk can be, Special K pledges to shut it down. Shhhhut down the fat talk (you idiots, there’s a switch inside your brain and as soon as you flick it you’re – ta-da!– confident and proud of yourself, you excellent human being, you).

Which is kind of funny, because Special K is effectively a diet cereal. Kellogg’s never uses the word ‘diet’ on its packaging or in advertising, but if you flip over the box, you’ll note that those boring, cardboardy flakes are “high in protein” and “high protein diets can help you feel fuller for longer and can also help you manage your weight”.

*strokes chin*

That sounds miraculously like a diet to me…

The problem?

The problem is that diets don’t work. Dieting – and a preoccupation with our size, shape and appearance – reinforces feelings of low self-esteem and traps us in a cycle of negative self-talk (fat talk)! We become more self-critical, less able to accept positive feedback from others and genuinely start to believe our worth is tied to the way we look.

So in actual fact, Special K‘s heartwarming commitment to improving women’s self-worth is laced with hypocrisy and more insidious motivations.

Women fat talk –> buy Special K cos it will stop the fat talk –> eat Special K –> yep, you’re still on a diet –> continue to hate yourself… and repeat.

Here’s hoping enough of us see through Kellogg’s cuddles and clothes tags and instead pledge to eat whatever the hell we feel like for breakfast.

Editor's Note: Author Hayley Gleason is the editor of Birdee, which features positive, real content for women and girls. Her background in marketing, advertising and design has seen her work closely with many brands for women over the past six years, including a collection of titles at Pacific Magazines. She is also Managing Editor at The Hoopla. You can follow her on Twitter:@Hayley_Gleeson.