The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), not content to spoil just about every tasty food and drink, is now taking on Harry Potter. The group’s longtime leader Michael Jacobson famously said “CSPI is proud about finding something wrong with practically everything,” and he’s found something wrong with children’s fantasy hero Harry as well — Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the upcoming family film “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Jacobson is irked by Coke’s sponsorship of the holiday film, and says — in absence of any evidence — that “children and adults worldwide are outraged that their beloved Harry Potter is being used to market ‘liquid candy’ to kids.” “Liquid Candy,” of course, was the title of a baseless 1998 CSPI report that used dubious “science” to link soda consumption to osteoporosis, fragile bones, obesity, tooth decay, and heart disease. Now, even though Coca-Cola products won’t even be placed in the film, CSPI has launched a website to attack Harry and Coke. This from a group that has blasted “‘predatory’ marketing campaigns aimed at children and adolescents” — exactly what CSPI itself is doing with its Save Harry scheme.
