Scaring the kids (or, still more matters culinary)

Another thing that a doctor said to me just after I got cancer that seemed a little obvious at the time, but took on more meaning later was: "You know, you didn't do anything to get this." 

I thought of that yesterday when I heard about a new TV commercial from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine attacking hot dogs. The lede of the AP story explains: 

A new TV commercial shows kids eating hot dogs in a school cafeteria and one little boy’s haunting lament: “I was dumbfounded when the doctor told me I have late-stage colon cancer.”

Nice! 

The little boy, as well as two others making testimonials in the ad, do not have cancer. (The use of "dumbfounded" by a child was a clue as to the scripted nature of the thing.) I had initially thought the ad was from some kind of vegan group -- the PETA milk-causes-acne crowd -- but I guess that isn't the case. Still, I'm haunted by the thought: What if the vegans are right, and the rest of us will fade away, leaving the world to slender, tight-lipped folks publishing abrasive web sites and walking around in soy shoes...