Morgan Spurlock Watch

Suspended Posting

As you may have noticed, updates have been slow on this site.

Morgan Spurlock watch will stay up indefinitely (hopefully to provide an alternative view on his work to anyone doing a Google or MSN search), but I'll probably draw back on the updates if and until Spurlock is in the news again.

In the meantime, check my personal blog, The Agitator, for daily analysis and commentary on obesity, personal freedom, and other Nanny State issues.

My Column on Spurlock

I write a biweekly column for the Fox News website which covers a range of issues related to politics, policy, and culture.

This week, I devoted the column to debunking Morgan Spurlock.

More Anti-Spurlocks

The Associated Press picks up on a number of anti-Spurlocks who did the 30-day experiment and actually lost weight.

Morgan, from Raleigh, thought the documentary had unfairly targeted the world's largest restaurant company, implying that the obese were victims of a careless corporate giant. People are responsible for what they eat, she said, not restaurants. The problem with a McDonald's-only diet isn't what's on the menu, but the choices made from it, she said.

And there's the rub. Spurlock insists he was trying to eat McDonalds the way most people do, not the way responsible people do. But why is it McDonalds' fault that many people consume its product in excess? And if it is McDonalds' fault, what's the solution? The only answer to that question seems to be "take the high-calorie stuff off the menu."

Which sort of proves the point. The aim of public health advocates like Spurlock isn't to encourage people to make better choices. It's to take the bad choices away from everyone.

Whiskey for 30 Days

Here's a parody of Spurlock's Super Size Me that's fairly clever.

The odd thing is, Spurlock has already desended into self-parody, and made a straight-faced TV show based on the same premise. The final episode of 30 Days featured a woman who "binged" on alcohol every day for thirty days. The episode was of course complete with the usual anti-capitalist jabs at the marketing and advertising practices of the liquor industry.

The parody film makes the important point that this of course isn't how manufacturers intend for their product to be used. Just about anything taken in in excess probably isn't going to be great for your health. And even the most aggressive of marketing campaigns don't recommend you consume one company's food or beverage product to the exclusion of everything else.

In any case, marketing and advertising are more about influencing brand loyalty than about influencing behavior. Few people decide to start drinking because of a beer commercial. Lots of people who have already decided to drink will switch brands (or, more likely, move to higher-priced brands) because of a beer or liquor ad.