A John Hopkins study released today in the Journal of Pediatrics takes aim at predominance of fast food and high sugar beverage ads shown on Spanish language television. The pediatrician leading the study isn’t shy at saying that these ads play a role in the obesity epidemic among the Latino population.
While no demographic group is immune from targeting, it seems clear that this is another case of marketers preying on the easiest pickings. I’m sure the marketing teams are raving about the success of the campaigns. I’m sure it’s cheap, highly targeted and produces incredible conversion rates.
The study looked at over 60 hours of programming and found:
A mean of 2.5 food/drink commercials aired per hour (range 0-8), and the median duration was 30 seconds; 31% of food/drink commercials advertised fast food, and 27% advertised drinks, most (54%) of which were sugared. About one third (31%) of the food/drink commercials targeted children, 12% featured Latino celebrities, and 19% made reference to Latino culture.
Previous surveys have shown that over half of Latino children have TVs in their room, compared to 20% of white children. I’m sure there are a host of social and cultural reasons for this difference, but what a marketer’s dream!
I believe that moms of all races need to face the fact that their children are prime targets for junk food marketing. The obesity problem and its cascade of health problems continues to grow. It’s time to get vocal. It’s time to unplug your kids. Voice your concerns and take away their ability to reach your kids.
I just got a tour of my daughter’s middle school for next year. Wouldn’t you know it — a row of shiny vending machines full of junk food greeted me at the door.
Tags: ads, advertising, children, hispanic, kids, latino, marketing, Marketing to Kids, spanish tv
Entries (RSS)
February 20th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
If I were a minority population being targeted specifically with this junk (and they ARE…as you can see by my article on Shaping Youth re: “Obesity risk twice as high for Hispanic kids” which is why we ran our pilot intervention program at their Title One school to test outcomes) http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=223
…I’d be livid. Day after day I see billboards in Spanish hawking burgers for a buck adjacent to Spanish ‘obesity warnings’ stacked on top of it like a double whopper…it’s freakin’ amazing.
As I mentioned on PEM, the most vulnerable ‘targets’ are also the most susceptible from a consumerism, convenience food, and caste system structure that reduces kids to ‘what they buy’ instead of ‘who they are’…ugh.
p.s. Here’s another RWJF study along these lines from last week that explores the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and obesity prevalence:
http://tinyurl.com/37kbsm
p.p.s. Does your state have vending machine legislation? Ca.’s is watered down, but existent…however the kiosks and concessions at the middle school push pizza, chips and cookies constantly, as you can see in our ‘childhood obesity’ category where we’ve covered this a LOT on Shaping Youth…In fact, we did a counter-marketing session using the rats & fats at the TacoBell in NYC to elicit the ewwww responses in deconstructing some junk food items…worked like a charm.
You’ll like this one…similar to your theme above! http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=307
February 20th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Thanks Amy! I’ve definitely got some research to do. Your links are a terrific start. It does seem like an uphill battle. Here in Missouri, we can’t even manage a ban on smoking in restaurants.
February 26th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
[...] Junk food marketed predominantly to Latino kids “A John Hopkins study released today in the Journal of Pediatrics takes aim at predominance of fast food and high sugar beverage ads shown on Spanish language television.” Jedimom sees truth through the bubbling beef tallow. (tags: kids culture consumerism health media advertising marketing evil) [...]
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
First of all (since new here): hello from Norway - found you at Mixx (I’m quite new there).
Interesting post and I do agree with you. I found an interesting organisation when walking around in the streets of Oslo Norway last summer talking about Slow Food:
http://www.terella.no/2007/06/12/how-about-lazy-summer-day-with-slow-food/
March 13th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
You might be interested in taking a look at this article/review on our recently completed film for teenagers and families, “All Jacked Up” by Mike Adams at NewsTarget.
An excerpt from the article…
“This is the documentary the food companies wish would go away. It’s just the kind of damning information linking junk foods with catastrophic health that Big Food wants to make disappear as quickly as possible. Be warned that you will likely never look at your food the same way again. Even though the film is focused on teenagers, the information applies across the board for people of any age. After viewing this film, you may find yourself instantly changing your eating habits.”
The complete review is online at http://www.newstarget.com/022510.html
Faerie Films would like to send you a screener DVD of “All Jacked Up” so you may better understand how we our addressing these issues in a way that captures and holds the attention of a teenage audience, and compels them to take action.
For more information on our film production company and our projects, please download our press kit which is available online at http://www.faeriefilms.com/aju_press_kit.pdf
At your request, we will send you a DVD and complete press kit.
We thank you for your attention to these important issues, and to our message.
Best Regards,
Sima
Faerie Films, LLC
http://www.faeriefilms.com
http://www.alljackedupmovie.com
949.494.7240 office and fax