Make that a footlong Hot dog defense

Everybody knows hot dogs are full of fat and made of disgusting animal parts. Everybody knows a steady diet of dogs is a bad idea - unless you're at a baseball park.

But The Cancer Project has done the American icon a disservice with its frankfurter fear ads. In cities across the country, the nonprofit has run a commercial that portrays three kids with colon cancer and implies they got it because they eat hot dogs. That's akin to saying people who enjoy a cone of butter pecan will develop diabetes.

The group says the "dramatization" - the kids are actually healthy and cancer-free - highlights research that links processed meats, including hot dogs, with higher odds of getting colon cancer.

Problem is, that connection is based on studies of adults, not children, and the increased risk reportedly is slight. The ad campaign gives the impression "that the occasional hot dog in the school lunch is going to increase cancer risk," the American Cancer Society's nutrition director told The Associated Press. "An occasional hot dog isn't going to increase that risk."

You know your cancer-awareness campaign is in trouble when the American Cancer Society can't digest it.

Tides game, anyone? We've got a hankerin' for a hot dog. With mustard and slaw, please.