Pretzel marketing fail, mean preschool girls, and stem-cell testing in the States
What woman doesn't love being reminded by a snack food ad that being thin is the ultimate female achievement? In their new and insultingly offensive ad campaign, Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps is betting the house on the fact that we're all just dying to be skinny, with slogans like "you can never be too thin" (it turns out you can). Now, in response to the naturally outraged cries of women stoked on their non-skinny bodies, the company has launched a website reminding everyone to "lighten up, it's a pretzel ad." Hot tip for Snack Factory's marketing team: try not to make your target demographic hate you.
The executive in charge of the company that caused a toxic sludge spill in Hungary last week has been arrested and brought in for questioning by police. The spill occurred when a reservoir filled with byproduct from alumina production burst, killing eight people and injuring another 150.
A patient has been treated in the first ever embryonic stem-cell trial on a human test subject. Geron Corp in the United States has begun enrolling a small number of patients to test a new drug that uses controversial cells from destroyed embryos to treat spinal cord injuries. Scientists are hopeful the treatment will be allow new movement in patients that would otherwise be permanently paralyzed.
A recent article in the New York Times highlights a disturbing trend: girls are getting meaner younger. Some educators described aggressive, bullying behaviour in girls as young as three, and many believe this mistreatment can traumatized the abused, affecting their confidence in later years.
A Peruvian teen who was raped and then denied an abortion has made a video to speak out about her treatment by Peruvian medical authorities. After discovering she was pregnant, the girl jumped out of window in an attempt to kill herself but survived the fall. Once in hospital, doctors denied her an abortion and initially refused to treat her for fear of harming the baby. She is now permanently in a wheelchair.
