Who is it this ad appeals to?

YouTube – “Pennies” Americans Against Food Taxes TV Ad.

I noticed this ad right away, primarily because of the main actress used, who has a very angry look on her face, and I wondered, “who is this supposed to appeal to?  Who wants to associate with a sourpuss?”  Then, of course, I realized its designed to stoke any anger or resentment that already exists among stressed working-class people (the exact people who would benefit from health care reform), to direct their anger at a very small tax on junk food that would help finance health care.

Apparently, it doesn’t matter that it’s just a few cents on each 2-liter bottle, because “that adds up” — uh, yeah, not if you’re buying just one bottle as the woman in this ad is carrying home.

But let’s say you buy one per day — and let’s put aside the fact that this would be way too much processed sugar to be feeding your kids each day — and it’s a nickel on each bottle.  That “adds up” to 35 cents a week, or $1.40 a month, 16.80 per year.

Is that really too much for the average family to bear for uninterrupted health care?  I don’t think so, and if it really is too much to bear, is soda really more of a necessity than health care?  That’s why it’s important to note that the industry shills who made this ad are  trying to frame this as a tax “on food and beverages” instead of on snacks.  The “food” we’re talking about here is potato chips — is that really “food”, or a snack?  Of course, calling it a tax on snack foods and soda would reduce the reasonable-sounding tenor of their objection.

The likely result, among those too poor to afford a “tax increase” of $20 per year, would be that they’d eat less corn syrup, sugar, and salty junk, and probably lose some weight.  Oh, but that would make the woman in this ad very, very angry.

Wouldn’t want somes sugar-deprived soccer mom going on a rampage…