By Sofia Donascimento
By Sofia Donascimento
Get fit like an ogre. Shrek is the new spokesperson for the “Be a Player” campaign, which is being promoted by the Ad Council’s Coalition for Healthy Children and DreamWorks Animation.
The catch phrase for the campaign is “Get up and play an hour a day.”
Although some feel Shrek is not the ideal spokesperson, it is better to use a character like Shrek, than to use a character with perfect physical appearance.
Children need to view a character with a realistic body shape that tries to be healthy and not a character that was made to perfection.
There are people complaining, saying that Shrek is not a role model, but I think the fact that he isn’t perfect is what makes him right for the job.
One of the reasons some people are complaining is that Shrek also advertises for Kellogg’s cereal, McDonald’s Happy Meal and M&M’s candy.
Most of us eat things that are not exactly healthy, but the point of the campaign is to get people to balance their diet and to exercise.
I don’t think having Shrek advertise snacks is such a big deal. With the campaign, children will continue to eat candy, but in a more balanced way. It is OK for people to eat candy occasionally, especially if they exercise to burn the calories.
In the movie “Shrek 2,” Shrek chooses to be how he is instead of taking a magic potion to look “charming.” I think that part of the movie shows that people don’t have to take pills to look fit, they have to exercise instead to actually be healthy.
The campaign is not about promoting a skinny body, but it is about fitness. Shrek is an outdoors character and, although he looks fat, he is active and fit.
Focusing on the actual fitness instead of the appearance will encourage children to eat right and it will send the message that being skinny does not equal being fit.
The idea that exercising and eating right is what will make a healthy person will show that both obesity and anorexia are unhealthy.
Children don’t have to feel bad about their body; they just need to be aware of the significance of a balanced lifestyle.
I love that Shrek is the spokesperson and not someone like Barbie.
Children need a guide that they can follow-somebody that resembles the majority of the population. Children do not need someone so unreachable that it only makes them feel worse about themselves.
In the story, when Shrek is faced with problems, his determination is what helps him. In the same way, children that are overweight can be inspired to eat right and exercise.
Not every one will have the body of a supermodel, but that doesn’t mean people should not exercise.
With Shrek as the spokesperson for the campaign, it is clear that it’s about health and not appearance.
