more on this: SMH australia:
Ministers deny TV advertising helps to fuel child obesity
Australia's health ministers have rejected widening calls for a ban on television food advertising aimed at children, saying there is no evidence that promoting fatty, sugary foods to children makes them overweight.

The Australian Medical Association yesterday joined most other big doctors' groups in calling for a ban.

Participants at yesterday's health ministers conference in Sydney agreed obesity was a big cause of preventable health problems and poor eating habits were creating a huge health and financial burden. However, the push from doctors to ban the television advertising of inappropriate food was not discussed.
The AMA's decision to call for a ban comes after the release this week of a report, Children's Health or Corporate Wealth, compiled by the Coalition on Food Advertising to Children, which found the vast majority of commercials were for foods high in fat, sugar or salt, and of low nutritional value, and cited studies showing these influenced children's diets.

Michael Rice, the children's health spokesman for the AMA, said: "Health ministers must today put children's health ahead of the wealth of big business by banning the TV advertising of unsuitable and unhealthy food to kids.
"Studies have shown that advertising unsuitable foods during peak children's television viewing times leads to an increase in the consumption of these foods."

well said CopyWhore, I couldn't agree with you more. (I just wanted to rhyme...)

actually I remember a not-bad campaign for similar dead expensive pens that some students did at school.
The whole print ad would have someones handwriting, and in the wee corner was a small image (sorta like the page was folded up in the corner) revealing the author and his/her pen. It started out with classic stereotypes (a punk chick writing poetry about death), other examples got more and more outrageous with famous people and love letters to their dogs. It was a great idea for a campaign that seemed to have the potential of going on forever.