Complain about a product or service

Girl Scout Cookies Earn "Merit Badge Of Shame"

Consumer group criticizes unhealthy partnership with Dairy Queen

June 5, 2008
Girl Scout cookies aren't exactly the first item you think of when it comes to healthy eating. But the venerable treat is under increased scrutiny from a consumer protection group, thanks to the Girl Scouts of America's new partnership with Dairy Queen.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) criticized Dairy Queen's new "Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard," which combines the typical Dairy Queen Blizzard with the Girl Scouts' thin mint cookies, as being unhealthy and designed to promote obesity. The large Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard weighs more than a pound, has more than 1,000 calories, 31 teaspoons of sugars, and provides more than a day’s saturated fat, CSPI claims.

"[T]his product and its marketing campaign deliver a very unhealthy message to young girls and others," said CSPI executive director Michael Jacobsen. "If you were designing a product with the intent of promoting obesity and type-2 diabetes in girls, it would look exactly like the Thin Mint Blizzard.”

The "Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard" came about as a result of a licensing agreement between Dairy Queen and the Girl Scouts, as part of the restaurant chain's "Girl Scouts Appreciation Week," held at Dairy Queen locations nationwide from July 7 to 13. Girl Scouts' chief marketing officer Laurel Richie said the partnership "with Dairy Queen enables us to reach the public in new and unexpected places."

"We hope the Girl Scouts Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard whets people's appetites so they remember to support the Girl Scout Cookie Program and all the business and financial literacy skills girls learn from participating in this annual leadership activity," Richie said.

“Selling cookies door to door is one thing,” Jacobsen said. “But renting out its nonprofit brand name to a junk-food chain is a major badge of shame for the Girl Scouts. It runs counter to the Girl Scouts’ mission."

A Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard is soft-serve mint and vanilla ice cream combined with Thin Mint cookies and topped with a creme-de-menthe flavored syrup made out of high-fructose corn syrup. The small size contains 540 calories and 12 grams of saturated fat, more than a Big Mac, according to CSPI.

By way of comparison, Dairy Queen's large Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard contains 1320 calories, 468 of which come from fat, earning it a "D+" for nutritional value, according to Calorie-Count.com.

The Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard also contains food dyes Yellow 5 and Green 3, which CSPI wants banned from the food supply. The organization's research claims the dyes promote hyperactivity and bad behavior in children who eat foods created with the dyes.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.