Marketing has a profound affect on the foods we eat and the beverages we drink, yet most of that marketing is for products we should avoid. BMSG monitors the media to help keep advocates informed of the tactics food and beverage companies use to target children, communities of color, and other groups that are particularly susceptible to the health harms these products cause. Below are archives of our monitoring.
Source: Progressive Grocer on July 19, 2012
Hy-Vee will present at the Annual Hispanic Retail Summit, a gathering "for retailers and marketers who want to learn how to tap into the $1 trillion Hispanic market and grow their business." Clearly, they want consumers to be healthy only insofar as it's profitable.Source: Drug Store News on July 19, 2012
The chain sponsored a Healthy Kids Summit "designed to educate parents, caregivers, and children on nutrition and exercise." Participation by senior staff from the YMCA and the Boston Public Health Commission helped validate an event that omitted a focus on the social and environmental causes of poor diets.Source: Hispanic PR Blog on July 18, 2012
A series of photos documents PepsiCo's sponsorship of major events hosted by two prominent Latino civil rights and advocacy groups, The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). The company is exploiting the well established reputation and deep community roots of LULAC and NCLR to position itself as a supporter of the Latino community.Source: The New York Times on July 18, 2012
The company is trying to reach moms through a partnership with the website Hungry Girl, using Pinterest and Facebook to advertise its Fiber One Chewy Bars for kids. The bars' No. 2 ingredient is sugar and No. 5 is corn syrup. Honey also makes the list.Source: USA Today on July 18, 2012
Lay's is engaging youth (and other social-media-savvy people) through a Facebook create-a-chip-flavor promotion. This is not the first contest of its kind, but it offers the biggest prize.Source: Beverage Industry on July 18, 2012
A market research firm advised the beverage industry to raise consumption by "positioning juice as a healthy alternative to sports drinks." (The industry is no doubt hoping people will forget what pediatric obesity specialist Robert Lustig has said: "juice is just like soda.")Source: Bloomberg on July 18, 2012
Some of America's most iconic food brands like Spam and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese have survived 75+ years by appealing to consumers' sense of nostalgia. One reader comments: "I want my children to enjoy what I used to have as a little girl."Source: FoodNavigator-usa.com on July 18, 2012
The industry is zeroing in on millennials as the "hot new target demographic." A research group said: "While [marketers] can and should target consumers across multiple segments, millennial shoppers are already willing and active participants in the field of new media."Source: Food Politics on July 17, 2012
The report is a plan to improve Americans' health. Nutrition professor and public health advocate Marion Nestle notes that some recommendations are aimed at the food environment and are addressed to families, schools, workplaces, communities and farm policy. However, she criticizes the report for not adequately explaining how they could be achieved.Source: MediaPost on July 16, 2012
To infiltrate kids' lunch boxes in the coming school year, Kraft and Polly-O string cheese are running a campaign with Crayola using social media and print advertising. The campaign says it's for moms, but the Crayola-packaged cheese will likely catch youngsters' attention.
