It seems
clear that marketing to children is not being based on principles of healthy
eating and nutrition. In a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
quick service restaurant (QSR) television advertisements for children’s meals
were compared with adult advertisements from the same companies to assess
whether self-regulatory pledges for food advertisements to children had been
implemented.
All
nationally televised advertisements for the top 25 US QSR restaurants from July
1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 were reviewed. Almost all of the 92 QSR children’s meal
advertisements that aired during the study period were attributable to
McDonald’s (70%) or Burger King (29%); 79% of 25,000 television placements
aired on just four channels (Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, and
Nicktoons). Visual branding was more common in children’s advertisements vs.
adult advertisements, with food packaging present in 88% vs. 23%, and street
view of the QSR restaurant present in 41% vs. 12%. Toy premiums or giveaways
were present in 69% vs. 1%, and movie tie-ins present in 55% vs. 14% of
children’s vs. adult advertisements. Median food image diagonal length was 20%
of the advertisement diagonal for children’s and 45% for adult advertisements.
The audio script for children’s advertisements emphasized giveaways and movie
tie-ins whereas adult advertisements emphasized food taste, price and portion
size.
The authors conclude that children’s
QSR advertisements emphasized toy giveaways and movie tie-ins rather than food
products. Further, Self-regulatory pledges to focus on actual food products
instead of toy premiums were not supported by this analysis. More work is
needed to give children education about healthy eating.
See the Infographic / Read the study
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