This new "salad frosting" product gets everything wrong about kids and vegetables

It’s no secret that lots of kids don’t want to eat their veggies, and that many parents will do just about anything to entice them—from puréeing carrots into pasta sauce to adding ten minutes of Paw Patrol for every pea that's not spat out.

In a bid to relieve parents of some of this hassle (and to trick kids into consuming more greens), Kraft has introduced a limited-edition version of its Classic Ranch Dressing, calling it Kraft Salad ‘Frosting’ and disguising it in a frosting tube. What's more, the ad campaign encourages parents to tell their kids it's truly frosting. Yep, that's right—the company says to lie to your kids. But don’t worry, according to Kraft’s press release, this is one lie parents shouldn't feel badly about.

“Innocent lies parents tell their kids help alleviate the pressures of everyday parenting, and if it gets kids to eat their greens, so be it,” says Sergio Eleuterio, head of marketing for Kraft. “Simple, innocent lies are not only part of parenthood, but a true tactic used by parents everywhere.”

OK, yes, we’ve all told parenting white lies—“I don’t know where that (mouldy) stuffie is, I guess it’s lost,” comes to mind, along with “we’re all out of ice cream”—but there’s a difference between pulling out a lie in a moment of desperation, and planning an entire campaign around it.

Upping the "seriously?" factor, Kraft is also asking parents to share their very best parenting lies on Twitter using the hashtags #LieLikeAParent and #contest. Some 1,500 lucky winners will receive a free tube of frosting. As you can imagine, the reactions to this campaign on Twitter have been mixed, with many parents horrified and outraged, both at the weirdness of the product and the campaign's emphasis on lying to kids.

We'd argue all this veggie-hysteria isn't even necessary. If your kid refuses to eat veg when they're young, don't sweat it—taste buds change. Chances are they'll be opting  for kale chips over potato chips in just a few short years.

Read more:
10 ways to raise a good eater  I fed my kids the new Canada's Food Guide and let's just say it was a bad week