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: Food Politics on November 10, 2011
Nestle illustrates how donations and partnerships between food companies and health organizations prove to be a conflict of interest. Coca-Cola, one of the Grand Canyon's big donors, reportedly convinced the National Park Service from blocking a bottle ban. The park was attempting to remove plastic water and soda bottles out of the park, which account for 30% of its waste.Source: MediaPost on November 09, 2011
Mountain Dew offers gamers a new Facebook-based sweepstakes called the "Mega Fan Experience." Gamers must post a picture of Mountain Dew's Mega XP 20-pack packaging and provide personal information such as name, mailing address and phone. The grand prize is getting to play the new video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" with friends at the Cowboys Stadium.Source: DunkinDonuts.com on November 08, 2011
Dunkin' Donuts targets communities of color in part by sponsoring events that are culturally important to these communities. Most recently, the company provided coffee to "Noche de estrellas," an after party that followed the Latin Music Awards as part of an effort to "deepen [the company's] relationship and build brand loyalty with ... multicultural communities." To publicize the promotion, Dunkin' Donuts offered Facebook fans free downloads of tracks by popular Latino musicians, as well as photos and videos from the after-party.Source: MediaPost on November 08, 2011
Coca-Cola and 7-Eleven partner to create the "Snowball" interactive app as an extension of The Coca-Cola Company's campaign "Arctic Home", aimed at increasing its sales through cause-related tie-ins.Source: MediaPost on November 08, 2011
Kraft is launching a new energy/caffeinated version of MiO that is expected to provide the equivalent of 18 cups of coffee.Source: PR Newswire on November 07, 2011
The food and beverage industries target communities of color in part by supporting events that are culturally important to people in those communities. This year the Heineken-sponsored Latin Grammy Awards will feature promotional activities, such as performances by popular musicians like Daddy Yankee, which will surround viewers with advertising for Heineken beer and related products.Source: the CMO site on November 07, 2011
A consumer FTC complaint against PepsiCo for "deceptive and unfair marketing practices" raises question about what some marketers consider to be standard techniques.Source: The New York Times on November 07, 2011
The study finds that state laws that ban sodas in schools have little impact on the amount of sugary drinks that middle school students buy and consume at school. Author of the study, Daniel R. Tauber, says that it illustrates the need for comprehensive laws instead of laws that focus only on one environment.Source: The New York Times on November 07, 2011
New York Times columnist Mark Bittman comments on the USA Today story describing Burger King's repackaged meals to target kids. He concludes by urging advocates to mobilize more aggressively against the predatory marketing by the food and beverage industry "because the food industry will make minimal token changes until they're forced to do otherwise."Source: Food Politics on November 06, 2011
Marion Nestle answers questions about front-of-package labels and argues that voluntary labeling initiatives will not work; instead, she says the labeling rules need to be mandatory.
