NPR – Rhitu Chatterjee
“Be it SpongeBob SquarePants or Tony the Tiger, food companies have long used cartoon characters to market their products to children. But that tactic can also sway younger kids to eat fresh vegetables, according to a new study. Sammy Spinach, Oliver Onion, Colby Carrot, Suzy Sweet Pea and a slew of cartoon vegetable characters with superpowers were developed as puppets by a nonprofit organization called Super Sprowtz. Using live puppet performances across the country and short videos featuring the veggie characters with stars like basketball legend Shaquille O’ Neal, the organization has been trying to make vegetables more appealing to children. One video has all the characters singing and dancing to the tune of Beyoncé’s “Put a Ring On It.” The revamped chorus? “If you’d like to eat healthy, put a veggie on it.” (Perhaps the creators were acquainted with little kids’ love of this song.) David Just, a behavioral economist at Cornell University, and his colleagues wanted to know if Beyoncé-belting veggie superheroes could actually change children’s eating habits. So they joined forces with Super Sprowtz and borrowed their characters to test them in elementary school cafeterias.”(more)