Media Bites: Cargill
February 9, 2009
This is the first installment of a new weekly media analysis project called Media Bites by the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID). This week’s analysis looks at the global grain giant Cargill:
About Media Bites
On any given day, most Americans are exposed to about 3,000 different commercial messages. These messages are in the form of TV ads, billboards, product placement in movies and video games or online advertising. Media Bites is a new effort by the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy to provide some regular analysis of these images and messages that corporations and the government use to manipulate the public into supporting products and policies.
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Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 
bravo! looking forward to more of these, I hope they become a consistent weekly segment.
Since Cargill is the world’s largest grower of genetically modified crops, these people could be dancing for joy that Cargill is now supplying us with French fries that are nutritionally impoverished and may be doing untold damage to the environment. Or perhaps they’re celebrating Cargill’s gradual takeover of the world’s food supply.
I found the Cargill ad to be at once the blandest and most offensive ad during the Superbowl. A close second was the Coke commercial where woodland creatures conspired to steal a bottle of Coke—as if battery acid laced with high-fructose corn syrup was such a naturally delicious drink that wild animals and insects everywhere craved it. (Although, come to think of it, it’s probably going to end up having more nutritional value than Cargill’s GM grains and potatoes.)
Another great analysis and desconstruction piece! This series is such a great resource for teachers of media education classes.