I just shook my head today when I read a Reuters story with the headline, Junk Food Gets Spotlight In Many Movies:  Study.  Apparently some researchers at the Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire have their undies in a bunch over their new study which found that a majority of the top-grossing films in recent years have featured food and beverage product placements - with junk food and fast food restaurants being the most prominent. 

These researchers are all in a panic over the fact that much of the product placement was seen in a majority of PG and PG-13 movies and about a third of G-rated movies.  Hey guys, trust me, kids know that junk food exists.  And it's no secret that kids will gravitate towards that type of food because it tastes good -  not because they see it in a movie.  These researchers, though, apparently aren't bright enough to just accept that fact and move on.  Get this - they are now going to conduct future research to try to determine if these product placements affect kids' food preferences.

But what irritates me the most about these eggheaded researchers is that they don't seem to understand that the parents buy the food - not the kids!!  Ultimately it's Mom or Dad that has the final say in what type of food they buy and choose to feed their children. 

Maybe it's time to do a study on why many researchers seem to lack common sense.