Sid the Slug
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Sid the Slug is an advertising character employed by the Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom as the face of the "Salt - Watch it" campaign to warn the public of the risks of excessive salt consumption.
The multimedia campaign, including advertising hoardings, television commercials and Internet coverage, was based on the premise that salt kills slugs, and can harm humans too. The campaign infuriated the Salt Manufacturers' Association, who complained to the Advertising Standards Authority - their complaint being that the information presented was misleading was rejected. The ASA had to deal with another complaint from a member of the public, that the use of the name "Sid" was offensive; this was also rejected, with the ASA instead arguing that most people would find it "humorous".
External links
- Sid the Slug game (http://www.salt.gov.uk/sids_game.html) from the Food Standards Agency
- Salt Sense (http://www.saltsense.co.uk/), home of the Salt Manufacturers' Association
- Article criticising the campaign (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2004/10/04/hdoc03.xml) in the Daily Telegraph
- Article on the SMA's complaint (http://www.news-medical.net/?id=4941)
- Report on the ASA findings (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3736306.stm) from bbc.co.uk
