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: MediaPost on March 19, 2012
McDonald's launches a meme, or hashtag-based, campaign for its mint Shamrock Milkshake that encourages consumers to try #Shamrocking ("posting photos of themselves doing an Irish jig while holding one of the milkshakes"). But Adweek notes that, like in past campaigns, the hashtag chosen "clearly has great potential for being misused."Source: The New York Times on March 19, 2012
A new study suggests that men who drink one 12-ounce soda a day experience a 19 percent increase in their risk for heart disease.Source: NYDailyNews.com on March 17, 2012
While Coca-Cola spends millions touting its philanthropic and corporate social responsibility efforts, the beverage giant's workers expose another side. Sixteen African American and Latinos workers filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola calling their work environment a "cesspool of racial discrimination" due to unfair assignments, disciplinary actions and retaliations for complaining.Source: QSR Magazine on March 16, 2012
DQ touts its charity efforts to Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital, and combines marketing of their blizzards in the process. On July 26, "Miracle Treat Day" DQ will donate $1 or more for every ice cream Blizzard sold to Children' Miracle Network Hospitals.
Source: QSR Magazine on March 15, 2012
Positioning itself on the side of health and the environment, McDonald's highlights "51 stories of supply chain partners who address challenges to help improve food sources, the environment, communities, and employee wellness across the world."
Source: QSR Magazine on March 15, 2012
KFC unveils its new Zinger Double Down sandwich in Canada that consists of a bun-less sandwich with processed cheese and bacon between two chicken breasts, double-breaded, fried and marinated with hot and spicy seasoning.
Source: The New York Times on March 15, 2012
Coca-Cola plans to increase revenues from $95 million in 2008 to $200 billion in 2020.
Source: Food Politics on March 15, 2012
Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim's new book, Why Calories Count, describes how calories "are really counted, why we need them, how we use them, how many we actually need and why it all sometimes goes so wrong."
Source: Foodnavigator-usa.com on March 15, 2012
Marion Nestle describes PepsiCo's recent decision to invest $500 million on marketing as an example of how the company's "first and only priority is to satisfy is investors. It is not a social service agency. Its investors see its apparent focus on nutrition as public relations."Source: MediaPost on March 14, 2012
PepsiCo's "Banner Sun" potato chips now exceed $10 billion annually, and 60% of sales come from outside of North America.
