Promoting an Unhealthy Country
After watching the documentary about the obesity crisis and the role advertisement plays, I wanted to look more into the effects of marketing on individuals. Markets often target children, who are more naive and willing to buy their products. Food business specifically use advertisements to appeal to younger audiences, often with bright graphics and intriguing details. Unfortunately, the majority of food being marketed to children is unhealthy, leading to the onset of many lifelong complications. According to Meghan LoDolce with the Obesity Action Coalition, "Today, one out of every three children is affected by excess weight or obesity. These children are more likely to continue living with obesity as adults." Consumption of junk food has increased dramatically, due to how easy, cheap, and quick it is to get.
Back in 2009, the food industry focused on advertising to children specifically. They spent $1.8 billion in total for new ads to hopefully attract kids to their products.
Back in 2009, the food industry focused on advertising to children specifically. They spent $1.8 billion in total for new ads to hopefully attract kids to their products.
Source: Obesity Action Coalition
Over half of the money was spent on advertisements for sugary drinks and foods, with less than 1 percent being spent on fruits and vegetables. By promoting mostly unhealthy foods-high in fat, carbs, sugars, etc-it leaves a larger impact on viewers watching. Food marketing has a direct, powerful impact on young people’s food preferences. It affects eating behaviors and influences diet, weight, and health in many negative ways.
There are changes being made to try to combat this issue. The use of media and other advertisements make their way to homes and classrooms, making it nearly impossible to avoid them. LoDolce states, "We have enormous power as consumers. If we demand that companies market healthier foods to kids, food marketers will have to listen. If we refuse to spend our hard-earned money on unhealthy products, food marketers will have to listen." If producers notice cuts in their sales, they will figure out the source of the issue. This will hopefully cause them to limit the advertisement of unhealthy foods-a step in the direction to a healthier country.
Sources:
https://www.obesityaction.org/community/article-library/food-marketing-to-children-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/
https://www.apa.org/topics/kids-media/food
Interesting post, Aimee! While watching the documentary, I was also interested in the factors leading to childhood obesity, as over 77% of obese children remain obese as adults. Children at a younger age are more susceptible to marketing strategies used by both fast food and entertainment companies, but I didn't realize that certain countries actually advertised specifically to children. One example I found is McDonalds, who lures kids in with Happy Meals, colorful playgrounds, and even the mascot of a clown. They've transformed fast food into an addictive meal for children rather than a once-in-a-while treat, leading to an increased consumption of fast food among young consumers.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-mcdonalds-happy-meals-addictive-20180227-story.html
Interesting post, Aimee! While watching the documentary, I was also interested in the factors leading to childhood obesity, as over 77% of obese children remain obese as adults. Children at a younger age are more susceptible to marketing strategies used by both fast food and entertainment companies, but I didn't realize that certain countries actually advertised specifically to children. One example I found is McDonalds, who lures kids in with Happy Meals, colorful playgrounds, and even the mascot of a clown. They've transformed fast food into an addictive meal for children rather than a once-in-a-while treat, leading to an increased consumption of fast food among young consumers.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-mcdonalds-happy-meals-addictive-20180227-story.html
I liked your post! I think that it's really useful to note that most of the revenue spent on food advertisements are for fast foods and unhealthy choices. These advertisements frequent the air but I don't think I've ever seen an advertisement on healthy food. This sparked my curiosity and I wanted to check the frequency of healthy foods aired on television. With the Super Bowl recently past, I found that of all Super Bowls in the past, there were rarely any (about 5) advertisements for healthy foods. Among these, most are slightly better snacks like nuts or yogurt. How can healthy food be better advertised to the American public?
ReplyDeletehttps://admeter.usatoday.com/2015/01/15/super-bowl-commercials-healthy-avocados-mexico-dannon-chobani-stephen-colbert/
I really liked your post and thought it was super interesting to think about how producers market mostly unhealthy and sugary food to kids. To further research this subject, I took a look at the Canadian market and how they are restricting (or not restricting) the advertising of unhealthy foods. One study suggests that there is "no government monitoring or oversight." and "this approach has not been effective." Thus, using this as further evidence, there must be some change made in the regulations in the Canadian market, as well as in the American market, to reduce the amount of ads. This same study also looked at other countries such as Sweden, Norway, and the United Kingdom which have taken steps toward greater regulation resulting in a decrease in the quantity of unwanted and unhealthy food advertisements. So, overall, greater effort must be made towards increased restriction.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4229149/
This was a really intriguing post! It is nice that you brought back the documentary that we watched in class. I thought about groups that heavily consume fast food besides younger generations and I researched about how advertisements also target poorer individuals. Often times, we see advertisements that boast about the benefits they reap, such as cheap price or it serves as the "healthier" option. I began to look at how other countries have researched marketing and its effects on the less-educated groups of people. In South Africa, a study was conducted looking over the statistics over advisements and the correlation to food consumption by the poorer and illiterate population of South Africa. The study found the popular channels were for the unhealthiest of foods: desserts, starch-based products, soft drinks, etc. These ads also promise that these products have "health benefits" that have been unverified by specialists, where poor and illiterate people are more prone to take in the information as valid. Overall, this case shows an extreme case of how advertisements target certain groups because they know how to rake in money.
ReplyDeletehttps://theconversation.com/how-marketers-target-poor-illiterate-people-with-unhealthy-food-ads-70285
When you mentioned how companies advertise fast foods to poorer individuals, that got me wondering which groups were mainly targeted. In the US, black and hispanic children are the ones who are affected by these advertisements. Because they live in poor areas, they will also have no access to a super market. Therefore, these ads will make children think that fast foods and unhealthy foods are more accessible and desirable. From 2013 to 2017, "spending for programs directed at black teens increased by 50 percent, from 217 million to 333 million". How can we promote healthy foods to all people?
Deletehttps://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/junk-food-ads-disproportionately-target-black-hispanic-kids-study-finds-n959111