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: Advertising Age on October 17, 2012
Pepsi is giving away credits for help with chores or other tasks through TaskRabbit, a startup website. Winners of the contest will also be given a Pepsi Next "to enjoy in their newfound free time."Source: Warc on October 17, 2012
Coca Cola's latest corporate social responsibility campaign seeks to improve the financial stability of 5 million women in developing nations while simultaneously boosting their profits in emerging markets and building loyalty among a population that tends to invest heavily in family. Such will provide some direct benefit, but what are the hidden costs to these women and their families?Source: ABC News on October 16, 2012
Each bag of the junk food contains 26 grams of fat and a quarter of the daily recommended amount of salt.Source: MediaPost on October 16, 2012
Keep an eye out for this evolving area of "content marketing." Red Bull's foray, centered around a record-breaking 128,000 foot jump by Felix Baumgartner, is already being described as "the most successful marketing campaign of all time."Source: Foodmagazine on October 15, 2012
In 2009, the Australian Food and Grocery Council introduced the Responsible Marketing to Children Initiative (RMCI), an industry self-regulation pledge. Not surprisingly, researchers have found that the number of junk food ads aimed at children has not slowed.Source: FoodNavigator-usa.com on October 15, 2012
A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine argues that restrictions should be placed on the items allowed for sale near checkouts so as to encourage healthier eating.Source: BBC News on October 15, 2012
Lawyer Don Barrett reframes the industry's classic "personal choice" argument: "Nobody's trying to tell the American people what they have to eat or what they cannot eat, the American people can make those decisions for themselves. It's all about free choice. To have free choice you have to have accurate information. That means Big Food, the food companies, have to start telling the truth about what's in their product. The law requires it."Source: Advertising Age on October 15, 2012
In conjunction with a Redbull-sponsored, record-breaking freefall by Felix Baumgartner, Kit Kat sent a candy bar into space and tracked its progress by video.Source: QSR Magazine on October 15, 2012
The campaign focuses on chicken tenders with "Dip 'em" dipping sauces. KFC commissioned an opinion study about "dude food" eating etiquette and will be creating a series of videos.Source: Los Angeles Times on October 15, 2012
Nestle and General Mills will reformulate some of their cereals sold abroad, while soda companies sue NYC over its new large soda policy.
