The 1998 'Nanny of the Year' Awards

From the Guest Choice Network
Copyright 1998 PR Newswire
December 29, 1998


WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The following was issued by the Guest Choice Network:

1998 was a momentous year for Nannies -- that growing fraternity of food cops, health care enforcers, vegetarian activists and meddling bureaucrats who "know what's best for you."

While every nanny worked tirelessly this year to restrict our choices, a few have shown outstanding initiative, creativity and determination in their efforts to protect us from ourselves. To honor those particularly effective busybodies, we present the 1998 "Nanny of the Year" Awards for the most prying public servants, the most meddlesome media mavens, the most twisted "junk science," and of course, the "Nanny of the Year."

The "Public Disservice" Award

California State Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), Chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee -- For refusing to consider a bill which would have lifted the state's ban on smoking in bars and taverns. The ban went into effect at the stroke of midnight, January 1, 1998, heralding in the "Year of the Nanny" on just the right restrictive note.

Honorable Mentions

The "(Abuse of) Power of The Press" Award

The Nation Magazine -- For their expose on "soda barons" trying to hook young kids on "the new drug of choice" -- caffeine. "[E]xecutives at Coke and Pepsi ... are pushing a drug on pre-adults, one that may have serious health consequences for a whole generation."

Honorable Mentions

"Sound Bites Over Sound Science" Award

MADD Board Member Ralph Hingson for 500 Imaginary Lives -- In a three-page report, Hingson claimed that a lower drunk-driving arrest threshold would save 500 lives a year -- something the entire U.S. Department of Transportation has been unable to prove in 15 years of research. Despite being thoroughly discredited by highway traffic safety experts, his research (and his sound bite) lives on.

Honorable Mentions

And finally (drum roll, please)...

The "Nanny of the Year" Award

In a surprise decision, the judges have awarded their highest honor to new-kid-on-the-block...

Kelly Brownell -- By calling for a "twinkie tax" on high-calorie food, Yale University professor Brownell simultaneously created a buzz for a new tax and reunited the Nanny nation, which was divided over what product they were going to attack after tobacco.

Honorable Mentions

We lift a glass of non-alcoholic, sugar-free, preservative-free sparkling water to you all.

The Guest Choice Network is a nationwide coalition of food service and beverage companies committed to providing a full menu of entertainment and dining choices.

SOURCE: Guest Choice Network

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