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: Ad Age on July 12, 2013
Goya is partnering with Beech Nut Nutrition to launch a new baby food with ÛÏauthentic Hispanic flavors made especially for your baby.Û The baby food will be target marketed to both Latino and non-Latino families.Source: Food Dive on July 11, 2013
Hostess leverages social media as a marketing tool for the return of Twinkies and other Hostess sugary products, encouraging consumers to "prepare (their) #cakeface" by posting photos and videos of themselves on sites like Vine, Instagram and Twitter.Source: ConvenienceStoreNews on July 09, 2013
The chain uses seasonal and anniversary pegs to market Slurpees, as annual "7-11" day (July 11 -- the company's "birthday") strategically falls in the middle of summer, at the height of "Slurpee season." This year's multi-faceted give-away campaign also includes digital marketing elements, with consumer-created videos and a mobile app.Source: QSR on July 09, 2013
The company uses a summertime seasonal peg and a high-profile sweepstakes to market its new coffee products with the "Iced Coffee Cash & Dash" campaign, which will reward one randomly selected customer with $1K each day in July.Source: Mashable on July 09, 2013
Coke's new cans "direct consumers to an app for music discovery," linking them to a Spotify map displaying what types of music consumers are listening to from around the globe. The can spawns from Coca-Cola and Spotify's recent partnership, and as of now, will not be marketed in the US.Source: Food Dive on July 09, 2013
The products include high-energy snacks, gluten-free options, on-the-go breakfasts and other meals that emphasize convenience.Source: Medical Xpress on July 09, 2013
A new study from the Rudd Center shows that around 2/3 of the food ads kids see on popular websites are for sugary breakfast cereal and fast food, providing still more evidence that the industry's "self-regulatory pledges do not protect children from advertising of nutritionally poor foods on children's websites."Source: Ad Age on July 08, 2013
Wendy's signed the former boy-band star to target millennials with its new premium (and higher-priced) burger by singing tweets from fans, using the hashtag #pretzellovesongs, while stationed in downtown Manhattan. Nick's July 8 performance will be aired live on Facebook.Source: The New York Times on July 08, 2013
This New York Times article explores how food marketers are launching new flavors as a response to changing demographics, namely the influx of immigrants from Asian and Latin America. This is a clear example of how food companies use product-based marketing as well as advertising to target communities of color.Source: The Charlotte Observer on July 08, 2013
An increasing number of food producers are including caffeine as an ingredient in their products, all with little to no regulation. In part due to the newness of the trend, "manufacturers don't have to tell the agency when they add the habit-forming, potentially toxic chemical to foods," nor are they required to list the amount of hidden caffeine an energy-food product contains.
