Anti-tax: "Don't drink yourself fat"

The New York Times has released an ad from NYC health experts that discourages consuming sugary drinks. These experts began a campaign to stress their belief that soda has a direct correlation with weight gain.

One ad shows soda being poured into a glass which contains what appears to be lard and it says, "Are you pouring on the pounds?"

Some say these ads will hopefully shock those who view them and get them to make the connection that the calories they intake from sugary drinks turn into fat later. Of course, the American Beverages Association says that these ads would do more harm than good.

Although the ads would undoubtedly make you think twice about drinking soda, the feelings evoked from ads only work for so long. I took a health class in eighth grade where I learned that in order to burn off one M & M, you would have to walk/run a lap around our gym (which was probably about 300 meters long). Although this information shocked me at first, the effects of this knowledge were very short lived. I'm proud to say that yesterday I had three peanut-butter/chocolate bars and a snicker doodle. And I have no idea how many calories that is.

This campaign is a good idea, but I feel that the effects will also be short lived.