Stalker noticed a quite striking advert in the GB national press this month for Boots the chemist chain . The ad consisted of a perfect large flat mushroom with a label attached outlining the health benefits of the foodstuff- "contains B vitamins – helps release energy from food". Below the mushroom a row of containers of Boots brand multivitamins and health supplements; the copy for the ad says – "Why isn't everything labelled as helpfully as Boots vitamins?" The advert is an excellent example of the trend in advertising to "naturalise" products – the use of the humble 'shroom to push a health message can but promote the fruits of the industry. It's nice too to get a free national promotion campaign for the produce of the mushroom industry. And maybe the produce should be labelled as it is in the Boots advert – it certainly wouldn't hurt.
