Hocus Pocus: Reframing Sugar | Negotiation

By KenrickCleveland
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As I was surfing the web today I came across a banner ad that said, "Skip artificials. Go natural. Sugar: sweet by nature. Only 15 calories per teaspoon."

Hmm. . . seems like they have a fairly clear message. Too bad it's completely absurd.

From just the banner ad I got the main frame of "artificial=bad, natural=good" and that mother nature, which would never try to harm us, is responsible for the perfect sweetness of sugar. Obviously.

I had to see what kind of spin the sugar industry is on about now so I clicked on the banner. The main page, gives a "taste comparison" of sugar versus artificial sweeteners. Sugar is natural, like a crisp apple and has been around since 200 B.C.

On the other hand, we've got the "phonies", artificial sweeteners, which are concocted by chemists (who are clearly not Mother Nature, and don't have our best interests at heart), and were developed in the last half of the last century. It's all so scary and new. . . how can we trust something that hasn't been around since 200 B.C.?

(Pay no attention to all the non-chemical, all natural sweeteners such as molasses, honey, Agave syrup, maple syrup or barley malt sweetener, which have no impact on the human body's glycemic index and are therefore far healthier than sugar and far less damaging for diabetics. The website does not include these in their graph.)

It is entirely possible that I am a tad sensitive to the message being delivered here because of my recent brush with death (and diabetic coma) due to an over-appreciation of sugar. (I take full responsibility for this event and the amount of sugar I consumed to create the problem in the first place.) I will say, however, that this reframe rubbed me the wrong way.

Lately many industries have had to do some damage control as a result of bad press (and potentially dangerous products)--the tobacco industry, the dairy industry, the meat industry, the fast food industry, oil and gas industries. . .Our reliance on all of these products isn't doing the environment or our bodies good.

Sugar used to be considered a luxury item. Now it's in almost every product you find on the shelves of your supermarket.

But take heart. According to www.gonaturalsugar.com, "The sugar in a bag at the store is sucrose, exactly the same as the sucrose you find in a piece of fresh fruit. Sugar is not a substitute for fruits and vegetables."

Indeed. . . 'Sugar is not a substitute for fruits and vegetables.'

On the "Sugar and a Healthy Lifestyle" page they give a full paragraph of disclaimers like, you need to exercise, yada, yada, yada, everything in moderation, yada, yada, yada, but at the top of that page they say, 'Sugar is more than a "fun" food ingredient, it's an essential one you can consume with confidence.'

Is granulated sugar really essential? Hmm. . . I understand only proteins, fats, carbohydrates and vitamins and minerals to be essential. Of course, carbs are technically sugars, but in this context we're led to believe that the we must eat granulated sugar in order to live. While I find this deceptive and fraudulent, I also see it as an incredible reframe of a deadly substance.

About the Author

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of wealthy prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

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