Industrial Corn's New (and Hilarious) Ad Campaign

Food activists are making Big Ag very nervous. King Corn himself launched a multi-part PR campaign to stave off any further detractors to the growing ranks of food revolutionaries calling for his head. And what passes as his defense is pretty hilarious.

One ad campaign launched by the ethanol lobbying group Growth Energy targets the D.C. Metro station closest to Capitol Hill. The "station domination," as the group calls it, involves 46 posters and banners with the organization's pro-ethanol message completely plastered all over the stop. No doubt Growth Energy hopes to influence commuting Congress members on their way to debate the next iteration of the Food/Farm Bill (Jill Richardson at La Vida Locavore has some first-hand photos). The corn take-over coincides with a $2.5 million, six-month television ad campaign.

See, folks have not been too hot on the whole ethanol thing ever since the word began to spread that ethanol takes more energy to make than it provides, and that it can be even more damaging to the environment than regular gasoline. There's also criticism that greater ethanol production may drive up food prices because corn-as-fuel would compete with corn-as-food. But that hasn't stopped Big Ag from trying its darnedest to get into the energy game.

Another such "education program" is being launched by a group that calls itself the Corn Farmers Coalition. They are bombarding Washington, D.C. with ads, a media blitz, and a truly entertaining Corn Fact Book, which at times reads more like a manifesto for those fighting the current system than a defense of it. It actually quotes facts such as "Did you know that only about 1 percent of the corn we grow is eaten as corn? The rest works its way into our food supply in other ways, such as animal feed or sweetener," and, "For decades, U.S. farm policy ensured abundant — and thus cheap — corn" as if these are good things. The group also assures us not to worry about the possibility of rising grocery store prices due to increased ethanol production because "Only 19 cents of our food dollar goes to farmers, and only a nickel's worth to corn farmers." Um... hooray?

The Corn Farmers Coalition describes itself as "an alliance of the National Corn Growers Association and 14 state corn associations," which, as Tom Philpott at Grist helpfully points out, all sit under the NCGA umbrella. The NCGA is in turn backed by a long list of Big Ag who's whos, like Monsanto, Cargill, and Archer Daniels Midland. And here we begin to see whose interests are really at stake.

And of course, who can forget the hilarious and ongoing high fructose corn syrup ad campaign, "Sweet Surprise", that began in 2008?

Normally I have a pretty pessimistic opinion of the working condition of America's bullshit detectors. However, some of these corn "facts" are so laughably transparent and riddled with such a blatant Orwellian vibe that I can't help but have some faith that our Congresspeople, journalists, and the general public will see right through them. That doesn't mean those of us who can articulate precisely why this is garbage should rest on our laurels, but dang, King Corn is sure making himself an easy target!

Photo credit: Angela Tchou via Flickr