DECONSTRUCTING ADS FOR SNACK AND JUNK FOOD WHICH TARGET YOUNG CHILDREN
Written and produced by Frank Baker, Copyright 2004
“Kids see 5,000 to 10,000 food ads per year, most of them for junk food and fast food.” Dr. Victor Strasburger quoted here.
“Advertising has psychological effects on what you think is normal. TV advertising has strong affects that are visual and emotional, with stories and music. When you’re tired and relaxed in front of the TV, you have less ability to control your impulses.” (Source: Jennifer Harris, Ph.D., M.B.A., director of marketing initiatives and associate research scientist at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, August 2010)
“The marketing of foods with low nutritional value to children in grocery stores should raise as much concern as it does on television or the Internet,” (Source: Jennifer L. Harris, PhD, Director of Marketing Initiatives at the Rudd Center, Yale University, February 2010)
“Online advertising is potentially way more powerful than television advertising ever dreamed of being,” (Source: Vicky Rideout at July 2006 press conference for release of new Kaiser Family Foundation study)
“During the course of a year, the typical American child watches more than 40,000 TV commercials. About 20,000 of those ads are for junk food: soft drinks, sweets, breakfast cereals and fast food. That means American children now see a junk food ad every five minutes while watching TV – and see about three hours of junk food ads every week.” (Source: News story quoting from Eric Schlosser’s new book, Chew On This)
“There’s a huge industry behind the marketing of unhealthful foods to kids, …there’s been an advent of newer media that are interactive and blend entertainment and advertising.”
Laura Lindenfeld, research assistant professor in the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine and the department of communication and journalism (quoted here)
“… we know that marketing is a factor in a lot of childhood ills such as eating disorders, youth violence, obesity, erosion of children’s creative play, family stress and materialistic values….there is absolutely no evidence that marketing is beneficial to kids and mounting evidence that it’s harmful.”
Susan Linn, Harvard Medical School, quoted here
The most common form of advertising to children is television commercials. The average American child views 40,000 commercials annually, and over half of these are for food. One study documented approximately 11 food commercials per hour during Saturday morning cartoon programming. Furthermore, studies have shown that the nutritional content of advertised foods is getting worse. A 1998 study found that 41% of advertised foods (excluding fast food ads) fell into the fats, oils and sweets category. Advertisers also use print ads, internet sites and celebrity endorsements to sell products. (Source: Op-ed)
“I will go out on a limb and say 20 years from now people will look back and say: ‘What were they thinking? They’re in the middle of a (diabetes) epidemic and kids are watching 20,000 hours of commercials for junk food.'”
DR. THOMAS R. FRIEDEN, New York City health commissioner (from NY Times)
“There is strong evidence that marketing of food and beverages to children influences their preferences, requests, purchases, and diets.”
(Key Fact, Institute of Medicine Dec. 2005 report )
“Overweight and obesity are directly linked to the amount of time children spend watching television” Dr. William Dietz, CDC director of nutrition and physical activity (read full story)
“Corporate America…spends $12 billion [on advertising aimed at children] because that advertising works brilliantly because it persuades children to demand – to the point of throwing temper tantrums, if necessary – a regular diet of candy, cookies, sugary cereal, sodas, and all manner of junk food”.
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, April 5, 2005, speech to ad conference
“Child television viewers are bombarded with health claims in television advertising,… Given the plentitude of advertisements on television touting the health benefits of even the most nutritionally bankrupt of foods, child viewers are likely to become confused about which foods are in fact healthy.” Kristen Harrison, a professor of speech communication (read full story)
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