Chef Colicchio and diet coke
Look, I really like chef Colicchio. I think he’s talented, has a great personality and I also like his approach to giving back. This week I posted his top 5 tips on Holiday cooking. They all make a lot of sense and you can watch them right here:
Now, as much as I like Chef Colicchio, I really take issue with his disappointing (from a nutritional, ethical and conviviality standpoint) “Eat tastefully campaign” in association with Diet Coke, the American Diabetic Association and the CIA (not the spies, the chefs!).
You can read the press release here: Eat Tastefully Campaign: Diet Coke, Renowned Chef, Pop-Up Kitchen Reveal Secrets to Great Taste, Living Well
Chef Colicchio touts the merits of a soda because “it’s not overly complicated”. I’m not a physician or a nutritionist but talking about enjoying uncomplicated things, I’ve long known that our body only needs one, count them, one beverage: water.
Sure, milk is part of a healthy diet, and so is, in moderation and for many different reasons, wine, especially red wine.
But soda?.. Why would soda be part of a healthy diet? Something you pour on your corroded battery so you can start your car? Really?.. Come on, Chef Colicchio can’t really be serious. A soda is a soda. You don’t fight childhood, teenage and adult obesity, diabetes and poor nutrition habits with more of the same. Drinking “Diet” soda is a very easy, uneffective way out of a bigger problem: changing our nutrition habits once and for all.
The fact that Diet Coke has no calorie and no sugar is totally irrelevant. The (bad) habit of drinking a soda with your meal is a tough habit to break. Regularly drinking soda with your meal can’t be a good thing, no matter what Chef thinks. And actually, I don’t find him very convincing when he struggles to explain the gourmet meal/Diet Coke pairing at 1:30. Citrus bite to it? Caramel flavors?..
This is not the first time I scorn at celebrity chefs teaming up with junk food corporations. A few months ago, I commented on Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi’s commercial for Carl Jr’s.
Now, I know, I know, all this sounds very hypocritical. I’m a chef who follows a healthy, natural way of eating and cooking. But if only I could get rid of some of the junk food publicity on my blog, that would be a good thing too!
What do YOU think? Post a comment below and take the poll.
9 Responses to “Chef Colicchio and diet coke”
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I could not agree with you more. I think it’s beneath his dignity, and it lowers my vast respect for him. Surely he doesn’t need the money THAT badly.
I admit: I am VERY disappointed in Tom Colicchio, and I hate saying that.
He has the right to use his celebrity and reputation to endorse wathever commercial product he wants to, as long as he is willing to pay the price for it…. as his reputation will loose some of it’s shine. I guess that money has a higher value for him than his culinary art. Too bad !
Gui : keep the fight alive and keep promoting healthy eating habits !
Cheers !
“Live simple, drink Diet Coke….!!!”
Quite a philosophy of life this guy has….
He is a celebrity and his name is his brand and his street value. He can do whatever he wants with it.
That said; his brand lost a lot of value with me when I saw that ad, as did Padma with Carl’s Jr. How can you tell me that Diet Coke is uncomplicated and good with a straight face while you are telling chef’s what it takes to compete in the Bocuse d’Or?
Looks to me like he’s riding his celebrity and selling to the highest bidder which is usually the first step down the slippery slope to becoming common.
To be honest, I don’t think that Diet Coke or any kind of these sodas taste great. Even if I am a consumer as many people in the world, I can say that Diet Coke just taste sugar. Strange philosophy from a famous cooker.
I agree with you on the one hand, sugar or no it makes for unhealthy teeth and a lifestyle of supporting GMO Companies bent on taking over natural farming for a dangerous alternative.
You can control the ads on your blog by bidding for good Organic companies to have a spot instead. Ask for their support! So when I see Tyson Chicken on your blog, I wonder what gives? You speak of healthy eating, but Tyson is a division of one of the largest agri-chemical, GMO, supporting corporations!You might as well had Smithfield or Con-Agra blairing an ad on your blog.
Get over yourself, chef. Either support Farm to Table or shut up.
Pretty soon, all the corn seed in the world will be owned and Trademarked through DNA strands and you sit on a high enough pedistal. So tell the world what you want to support. Is it Tyson?
Chef, I actually totally agree with you. The recent ads on my blog for Tyson and others are non-sensical and look hypocritical.
I am working with my ad company to better target the ads they channel to my ad spaces (fyi, i have no control over what they are; i just provide the space).
So yes. You are 100% right. And I’m working on changing this in the next few days.
i always monitor my calorie intake from my diet because i have a very slow metabolism and i dont want to get overweight.-”`
A healthy diet will always be composed of high fiber frutis and veggies, low sugar, low carb and rich in protein.~’~