Food marketing in the news and on the web: A content analysis of opinion pages, the trade press, and websites designed for children
With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Rudd Center at Yale University embarked on an ambitious food marketing project to identify the best and worst food practices, assess their impact on children and youth, and inform policy makers and the public about the practices and their effects.
Monitoring opinion pages and the trade press
BMSG contributed to the Rudd Center’s project by conducting an ongoing, prospective assessment of how food marketing issues get portrayed on opinion pages, including masthead editorials, columns, op-eds, letters to the editor, selected trade press, and selected blogs. BMSG’s previous studies have revealed how messages have been framed, by whom, with what intent, and significantly, how they have changed over time. Through the Rudd Center, BMSG published and disseminated brief analyses of the opinion tracking to help advocates learn where they stand in the continuum of debate, what to expect from opponents, and how to reframe issues.
Content analysis of food and beverage websites targeting children
BMSG also conducted a series of Internet content analyses. Children are spending more time online, and from a very early age, visiting websites designed especially for them. According to a February 2008 report on the “U.S. Online Population,” children between the ages of 8 and 14 are online almost 2 hours daily. The online presence of children is not going unnoticed by food and beverage marketers. The top food and beverage marketers have branded websites designed to appeal to children, chock full of activities and features — games, videos, contests, email, personal profiles, and more — designed to engage children with the brand for prolonged periods. Based on its recent study of the top 30 most popular children’s websites in 2006, BMSG conducted a content analysis of food marketing targeting children on websites sponsored by food companies and others. BMSG studied one category each year (cereal, fast food, and sweetened beverages). The research focused on cataloguing the brands being marketed and the techniques marketers use online. The analysis assessed the level of engagement food marketers employ to keep children interacting with their brands.