A Winning Formula

If you ask me, Hong Kongers are perfect suckers when it comes to products that claim to make their kids smarter.

You may not buy it, but for proof just turn on the idiot box and watch five minutes of Hong Kong television. Invariably you'll be bombarded with advertisements for DHA-enhanced infant formula that imply children who ingest the wunderprodukt will become geniuses in short order. Such commercials show toddlers spelling large words, using computers, and growing up to become world-class concert pianists.

One company has gone so far as to slap "IQ" in giant letters on its containers, in case folks forget that they're supposed to be nurturing little Johnny's intelligence every. chance. they. get. Parents buy into these unsubstantiated claims because they believe it's necessary to give their progeny every advantage. Of course they fail to realise that any potential gain will be negated if all the other kids are drinking the same stuff.

But the marketers don't stop there, they claim all sorts of ancillary benefits, including improved digestion, strengthened immune system, and best of all: sharper eyesight; a particularly calculated touch given that about 75% of adult Hong Kongers are myopic.

"Are people really that gullible?" you ask? The answer is a resounding yes. These are the same people who enroll their kids into pre-pre-kindergarten programs, purchase course material for the first year of school in advance so that they can mercilessly drill the tykes for a few years before they hit the ripe old age of six, and hire tutors to ensure junior makes into the top 0.01% of the class so that he won't have to leave Hong Kong to attend university. Anyone that focused is bound to fall for the formula pitch hook, line and sinker.

That's not to say that parents elsewhere aren't taken in by such claims, just that people in these parts are far more susceptible to the hype that a baby's intelligence can be boosted by replacing breast milk with a powder that science has tweaked. And should sales ever begin to flag, all the 'designer formula' companies have to do is joint venture with popular fashion brands.

Louis Vuitton Formula would be a runaway bestseller.

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