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: Fox News on January 09, 2012
A New York City Department of Health official "criticized a free breakfast program in city schools, saying it makes poor kids fat." Advocates fighting against hunger argue that "obesity is a serious problem, but so is hunger, and you have to find a moderate line between the two."Source: Food Politics on January 09, 2012
Nestle applauds New York City's ad campaign that urges consumers to reduce their meals' portion-sizes as a way to improve health.Source: HispanicPRPro.com on January 07, 2012
Andy Checo, a PR professional, urges businesses to connect with Latino Social Media Influencers (LSMIs) to generate "organic social media buzz." He also encourages Latinos who use social media to maximize their influence and seek to become LSMIs, both for marketing purposes and to strengthen their influence and effect social change.Source: NACS Online on January 06, 2012
A new bill in Nebraska proposes removing the sales tax exemption for soft drinks and energy beverages. The funds would be used to for healthy-living programs for children and would generate $11.3 million annually.Source: The New York Times on January 06, 2012
The Dr Pepper Snapple Group releases a new campaign with the theme "Always one of a kind" to promote Dr Pepper. PepsiCo brings back Latina model and actress Sofia Vergara as spokeswoman in its new commercials.Source: MediaPost on January 06, 2012
The campaign includes consumer-created Doritos ads and consumer voting on which ad will run on air during the Super Bowl.Source: MediaPost on January 06, 2012
Denny's tailors their menu items to "appeal to specific customer segments and preferences." These include heavy fast-food items to "better-for-you" options from its "Fit Fare" menu.Source: The Blog of Bruce Bradley on January 06, 2012
A former food industry executive reveals how Big Food capitalizes on the time between the holidays and the Super Bowl by celebrating weight loss and targeting "emotionally vulnerable folks they've helped fatten up during the past year."Source: Convenience Store News on January 05, 2012
The Nielson corporation has released a study called "The State of the African-American Consumer." It provides information on the shopping habits and preferences of African-American consumers that marketers may use in the future to more effectively target this population.Source: Marketplace on January 05, 2012
Mark Bittman highlights the industry's predatory marketing of sugary cereals to children and critiques the industry's pushback against the voluntary marketing guidelines. He states: "The junk food industry spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying against them. Their argument: those guidelines would kill jobs. Even if that were true -- which it isn't -- would you rather kill jobs, or children?"
