In a poll taken by CBS’ Political Hotsheet’s Peter Maer in his post titled, “White House: Stop Marketing Unhealthy Foods To Kids,” the question was asked of readers as to whether or not they would support restrictions on marketing unhealthy foods to children in order to combat obesity.  Out of 12,630 submitted votes to date, a shocking 89% said no they would not, while 9% said yes, with 2% not sure.

And this in light that almost one-third of U.S. children are at least overweight, and about 17 percent, obese.

If this random poll is any benchmark, childhood obesity is not high on anybody’s list, except that is, First Lady Michelle Obama, who has made this issue her signature piece similar to Nancy Reagan’s campaign against drug use.

And just in time, for in the absence of federal mandates to push changes in the marketing of junk food to kids, it will take a “bully pulpit” to rally consumers toward embracing healthy eating and disavowing hawkish marketing directly to kids of junk foods.

Michelle Obama is leading such a campaign.  Much like Michelle Obama appealed to the community at large when she planted an organic garden on the South Lawn of the White House which spurred many to have home gardens of their own, especially during the economic crunch of ’09 (see blog of July 14, ’09, titled Michelle Obama and Gardening…,) she is now asking communities to take charge in helping combat childhood obesity.

A Task Force on Childhood Obesity, spearheaded by Obama, which was set up to review this urgent issue, wants junk food makers and their marketers to “go on what amounts to an advertising diet.” It also came up with a more practical idea, a pocketbook approach to keep people from buying unhealthy foods by potentially imposing state and local sales taxes on less healthy products.

That’s good and fine, but for the campaign to really make an impact, it will take the FCC to step in. However, per the comments of the FCC Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, “A regulatory approach is certainly not where we want to start” — there’s not too much chance of this happening in the future.

According to Ms. Obama, it should become a crusade for all to adopt.  In her words,  “No one gets off the hook on this one from governments to schools, corporations to non-profits all the way down to families sitting around their dinner table.”

Much like the Green movement unleashed decades ago resulted in consumers preferring to support and do business with companies that portray an environmental concern and social conscience, so too can there be a groundswell behind companies that market healthy food products directly to children and promote healthy eating.  For example, wouldn’t it be great if it suddenly became “cool” to market healthy food products with kids’ favorite media characters?

Marketers take note, after all, it’s about children…

The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 not only paved the way for German re-unification, but also broke the devastating communication barrier that had been in place since 1961 and led the way for what would soon be the opening up of communications with the entire Eastern bloc.

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What a week!  Apple finally raised the curtain on its greatly anticipated new tablet, the iPad, sending the Internet aglow for 24 hours, only to have some public nonsense erupt about the use of the word “pad,” which could easily have been but a nonsensical blip, had it not made the front page of The New York Times on January 29; President Obama delivered a much anticipated State of the Union, which instantly flared national emotions, from pride to fury; an American icon turned up as Italian; a German car company unleashed a storm through its Green Police ad campaign; and finally, Toyota delivered an expensive “Mea Culpa.”

1 Blip: Could anyone ever have thought that the name of the new Apple tablet, iPad, would evoke awkward associations with feminine hygiene products? According to Michael Cronan, a naming consultant in Berkeley, Calif., whose company has helped come up with brand names like TiVo and Kindle, “many naming experiments show that women tend to reflexively relate words like “pad” and “flow” to bodily concerns.”

C’mon.  Apple’s marketing team must be incredulous.  Happily their response was no comment.

2 Blunders: McItaly and Green Police.  An American export icon turns Italian, and a German company brings up reminders of the Third Reich.  Unreal.  Along with apple pie, the golden arches of McDonalds are recognized internationally as very American indeed.  And, along comes McItaly, so named because it apparently will use only Italian ingredients.  When McDonalds showed up in Moscow in the early ’90, the company also used only Russian ingredients but it did not become McRussia.  Speaking of diluting what a brand stands for…. According to The Guardian’s Word of Mouth foodblog, Matthew Fort, the burgers are a “monstrous act of national betrayal.” Couldn’t agree more.

Audi’s misstep in picking an environmentally friendly name for their Super Bowl social media campaign, as in “Green Police,” without first checking it out, was a huge marketing blunder. Readily available research would have revealed that the name was used in Nazi Germany to refer to the German Order Police.  Whether or not consumers will know their history enough to connect the dots, does not justify such oversight. An apology is in order.  And also maybe a new marketing team that gets that research can forestall damage to a company’s image.

1 Headache: the $550 million operating cost headache for Toyota, as it recalled 5.6 million vehicles in the United States alone, swallowed production shutdowns and searched for fixes to have the problem go away, sooner than later.  However, much like the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol recall of the ‘80s, which left the company unscathed because of its strong and open responses, Toyota is doing what is right in an effort to keep the public trust. Its president has issued a Mea Culpa apology and company communiqués continue to update the public.

And finally the one word that is rarely heard, if at all, in political speeches — Decency. President Obama used this word in his State of the Union address, citing the, “fundamental decency that has always been at the core of the American people, that lives on.”  A word to be remembered…

Thank God it’s almost — Monday.

Leave it to the Russians to understand the value of gardening.  For decades the then Soviet Union public-at-large spent their summers in their “dachas” (basic summer cabins with a small plot of land attached) toiling the earth, planting vegetables and most notably, potatoes and cabbage, staples in their diet, to load up the shelves with food that was mostly then pickled, in order to remain edible throughout the harsh Russian winters.  These individual gardens kept a whole population alive and were depended upon for sheer survival.

So it came as no surprise that, during the Obama family’s visit to Russia last week, while President Obama held high level meetings surrounding diplomacy issues, Michelle Obama did her own thing, meeting with a Russian audience that, according to a report by Robin Givhan of the Washington Post, “were more enamored of her gardening skills than of anything else on her résumé,” referring to her recently planted White House vegetable garden.  Apparently a headline on a weekly Russian magazine had a cover line that read, “The Queen of the Fields: Michelle Obama And Her Husband Can Overturn Our Understanding Of America.”  Well, maybe that was a moment of effusive enthusiasm, but it’s clear that the First Lady’s love of gardening resonated with people that understood that, per the article, “tomatoes, can serve as tools for diplomacy.”

Not in the real sense, of course — but still, the gardening “world moment” happily happened and, with it, comes hope of elevating the traditions of American localism, a growing spirit of American environmentalism.

Photo Courtesy of WhiteHouse.gov

The symbolic importance for the American public of an organic garden on the South Lawn of the White House has blossomed in ways no one could have expected. For one thing, it has already spurred many to have home gardens of their own.  For another, just consider the warmth of the coupling of kids, gardens, seeds and a “meeting over the fence” to discuss compost or lettuce, and the sense of old fashioned neighborliness that can be re-ignited.  And then there is the simple economic truth – growing your own vegetables helps constrained budgets.  And how about the word “pride” in just the creation of a garden that flourishes?

OK, altruistic and old fashioned concepts, maybe, but timely in an era where arguably, electronic communications have overtaken live discussions.  A new focus and interest in neighborhood or community gardens could prompt renewed “live” connectivity between people.

I do know first hand the value of it all, for I once walked through the back streets of a string of “dacha” villages in the hot humid days of summer outside Moscow, and found something that felt strangely wonderful.  Throughout the winding dirt street, there was a sense of togetherness among the people — a single shared purpose in prodding the earth into becoming bountiful coupled with a common pride in making it happen.

I believe that Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden can go well beyond simply growing vegetables for White House meals. It can be a trigger for a renewed sense of neighborhood involvement, or a heightened awareness of our roots in our America of 2009.