Four Ways Junk Food Marketing Targets Your Kids

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http://mercola.com/2003/nov/26/junk_food_marketing.htm

 

 

Four Ways Junk Food Marketing Targets Your Kids

 

 

 

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

with Rachael Droege

 

 

 

You walk through the grocery store, planning to buy only the few items on your

list. You have just about made it down the first aisle when your young child

begins to beg for junk food item #1, green catsup. You give in hoping it will

make the rest of the trip easier, when just as you turn the corner your child

begins begging for another junk food item, this time sugary cereal. Sound

familiar?

 

 

 

Well, there’s a reason why your kids want just about every sugary, greasy,

processed food that they can get their hands on. Since the day your child was

exposed to the outside world, through TV, magazines, the radio--even

school--they have been inundated with the persuasive messages of the junk food

industry. According to the National Institute on Media and the Family,

advertisements target children as young as 3 years old. As an adult it can be

hard enough to resist these marketing ploys, but for a child to resist is almost

unthinkable.

 

 

 

Junk food marketers spent an estimated $15 billion in 2002 on marketing aimed at

children. They seek to push their low-nutrient foods into the heads of children

so that they in turn pester their parents to buy the products. And their ploys

appear to be working as one out of every four American children are now

seriously overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.

 

 

 

Of course, the ultimate decision of whether to purchase junk food is up to you,

the parent, but becoming aware of some of the most obtrusive methods junk food

marketers use can help you to protect your children from these unhealthy

messages.

 

 

 

Athletes/Celebrities

 

 

You may have seen Pepsi’s Web site, which features pop-singer Beyonce and Cubs

baseball player Sammy Sosa. Beyonce is quoted as saying “For me, to build a

relationship with Pepsi is incredible,” while the site says about Sosa, ” For

the past three seasons, Slammin’ Sammy has been powered by Pepsi.”

 

 

 

This is just one example of a company using celebrities and athletes to promote

a less-than-nutritious product. Pepsi is certainly not the only company to do

so. Snickers brand candy bar has a TV commercial that takes place in the Chicago

Bears locker room and Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal is touted as “The official

cereal of the National Hockey League (NHL).

 

 

 

Many children see celebrities and athletes as role models and feel that the

products they endorse are worthwhile. They listen to these messages because they

like the messengers. Unfortunately, the underlying message to kids--aside from

the more obvious “buy this product”--is that eating these products can make them

a celebrity or athlete, or at least will make them look and perform like one.

And even if that doesn’t happen, they still feel that the products are

worthwhile since they’re popular among the people they look up to and respect.

 

 

 

Saturday Morning Commercials

 

 

Saturday morning cartoons are a tradition for many children. Not surprisingly,

junk food marketers have claimed their space among the cartoons--90 percent of

food commercials aired on Saturday morning kids' TV shows are for products of

low nutritional value such as sugary cereals, candy and fast food.

 

 

 

As though placing the ads among children’s cartoons is not enough, many of the

junk foods will even feature a cartoon character or cartoon theme as part of

their packaging and promotional angle.

 

 

 

By the time you head to the grocery store that afternoon, your child’s mind will

be thoroughly saturated with junk food items to persuade you to buy. Of course

this is the time when you as the parent can be strong and only buy foods that

you will feel good about your child eating.

 

 

 

School Vending Machines

 

You may send your child to school with a healthy lunch in hand, but your efforts

may soon be sabotaged by junk food marketers where you least expect them--in

your child’s school. Most school hallways are lined with vending machines that

sell soft drinks and unhealthy snacks, and most school cafeterias serve any

number of fast foods each day. It’s not uncommon for schools to make marketing

deals with leading soft drink companies such as Coca-Cola from which they

receive commissions--based on a percentage of sales at each school--and

sometimes a lump-sum payment.

 

The revenues are used for various academic and after-school activities, but what

activity could be worth devastating the students’ health, which is exactly what

consuming all that soda and junk food is doing? Getting rid of vending machines

in schools--or replacing their contents with pure water and healthy

snacks--could make a big difference, as vending machines can increase the

consumption of sweetened beverages by up to 50 or more cans of soda per student

per year.

 

The Internet

 

More and more children have access to the Internet, which means that marketers

have gained another avenue to market their products. Almost every major junk

food, from snacks to candy to soft drinks, has its own promotional Web site. The

sites typically cater to children and teenagers and are filled with interactive

games featuring the product, giveaways, contests and other information about the

product.

 

Kids are likely to be drawn in by the games and are subtly inundated with images

of a particular junk food or junk food brand. Although they may think they are

simply playing a game, the games typically have a junk-food theme that exposes

them to nutritionally devoid products even during their time off.

 

Although you can’t realistically shelter your child from every advertisement out

there, you can sit down with them and discuss the ads you do see. Explain to

them that a business is selling the product and that they need to think about

all aspects of the item (nutritional value, price, etc.) and not rely solely on

the ad to make their decision. And, make sure that you are a good role model for

you child. If you eat a lot of junk food, you’ll have a hard time convincing

your child that they shouldn’t eat it.

 

 

Related Articles:

The Real Dangers of Soda to You and Your Children

 

Schools Peddling Junk Food to Kids

 

U.S. Junk Food Intake Worsening

 

Junk Food Diet Gives One Youth Scurvy

 

School Lunch Programs Aren’t Making the Grade

 

U.S. Food Industry Comes Under Scrutiny

 

 

 

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