Sometimes on the walk home from daycare, playing with my kid, I get a craving for a snack. If we end up at a convenience store because I'm thirsty, my kid goes straight for the Pororo drink. Meanwhile I want them to have the barley-tea drink with the Cocomong character on it instead. This one's better for you, this one tastes better — doesn't matter what I say, all my kid sees is the Pororo character. Healthy Cocomong just can't beat Pororo.
And it hit me: no matter how much I ban it right now, healthy snacks just aren't close at hand in the environment we actually live in.
So if they're going to eat it anyway, let's at least get them eating less of it on their own. That became my goal. About two months in, it started working. I'd lay out all the snack options on the way home. Pororo always got grabbed first — character power always wins. Once they'd grabbed the Pororo one, I'd suggest whichever snack seemed healthier. I told them they had to eat that one before moving on to the Kinder and Haribo tier.
In the hot summer, I'd set out the room-temperature Pororo drink next to a barley tea straight from the freezer. Run around playing, get out of breath, and of course you go for the cold one. That's when Cocomong beat Pororo for the first time. Later, a frozen 500ml bottle of water started winning.
Obviously it's better not to feed them any of it. And ideally, feed them less if you can't avoid it entirely. What I'm saying is: play the long game. Negotiate a little with reality.