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: Psychology Today on March 15, 2013
Researcher Jennifer Harris launches her blog for Psychology Today with her ruminations, as a mother, a former marketer, and a psychologist, on the reality of how marketers target children and teens. She says "educating kids will not solve the problem" and urges parents to become informed and demand change to protect their children.Source: Warc on March 14, 2013
The sandwich maker received top scores for "online social currency," as measured by a poll that queried consumers about brand buzz, advocacy and engagement, and ties to personal identity. Subway credits 21 million Facebook fans, 1 million Twitter followers, and digital ads with success.Source: Warc on March 14, 2013
The food company has outlined 30 worldwide CSR targets it plans to achieve by 2020, which it calls creating "shared value." The efforts include product reformulations, a healthy kids education program, and loans to farmers -- all packaged in "we-are-responsible" rhetoric.Source: Berkeley Media Studies Group on March 14, 2013
Public health advocates (including BMSG) say that Nickelodeon's practice of marketing unhealthy foods to kids runs afoul of the entertainment giant's claim that it is a responsible media business and have called on the company to stop advertising junk food to children.Source: ConfectionaryNews.com on March 14, 2013
BMSG and the Center for Science in the Public Interest have urged Nestle to stop marketing unhealthy foods featuring the Girl Scout's name and logo, saying that doing so violates the company's pledge to avoid marketing to children. The company denied this, and now its Girl Scout candy bars are winning ad awards and reeling in sales.Source: MediaPost on March 13, 2013
A new survey from the publishers of two popular Latino magazines outlines a variety of shopping and mealtime trends among Latino consumers. Among other findings, the survey reports that Latino consumers enjoy cooking an eclectic variety of foods and extensively use digital coupons, recipes, and other online resources. The report may help food manufacturers "target [Latino families, and moms in particular] with their product offerings."Source: Salon on March 12, 2013
The head of the FDA says that writing the new regulations (required under the ACA) "has gotten extremely thorny," with supermarkets fighting to be excluded from the rules. It sounds like the lobbying is thornier than the labeling itself.Source: MedicalXPress on March 12, 2013
A Yale Rudd Center study revealed major loopholes in industry pledges not to market junk foods to children, stemming from companies' narrow definition of "child-directed programming." The report urges them to expand the definition, advertise healthier items, and take other steps.Source: PR Newswire on March 12, 2013
The program involves a barcode-clipping program to benefit charter schools serving Latino students. It is expected to raise up to $10,000 at 10 cents per barcode -- and presumably boost Cacique sales.Source: FoodNavigator.com on March 12, 2013
The cereal is now called "Weetabix with Chocolate," and the company will pump over $25 million into a cross-channel campaign to convince parents it's healthy. The product has some whole grains and less sugar than the average chocolate cereal, though it is still one-fifth sugar.
