Food marketing to NZ kids
Dr Gabrielle Jenkin Dr Gabrielle Jenkin Deputy Director
Health Promotion & Policy Research Unit (HePPRU) University of Otago,Wellington
Self-regulation of advertising
Advertising rules governed by the industry funded Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) Three codes relevant to food advertising to children (defined as under 14)
ASA Codes state:
Advertisements should not undermine the food and nutrition policies of Government . . . nor the health and wellbeing of individuals Advertisements should not undermine the role of parents in educating children to have a balanced diet Rules around the promotion of excessive consumption or portion sizes
Television: the rules NZTV Broadcasters Code: Getting it Right for Children (free-to-air TV)
Only healthy food can be advertised during children's viewing times
However
Children’s viewing times are determined by industry
TV2 – the most popular children’s channel, no unhealthy food ads allowed between 7-8.35am & 3.30-5pm
TELEVISION
‘Children’s viewing times’ vs actual viewing times
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
450000
Number of children
Time starting
TV2 Children's viewing times (Nielsen data)
Total TV
TV2
TV3
Nickelodeon
Cartoon Network
Television: the reality
0 01
0
10
5.34
5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12Number ads
Hour starting
Unhealthy food advertisements by hour TV2: 2012
INTERNET
Internet: why on-line marketing?
Ubiquitous connectivity Engagement User generated content Personalisation Social graph Immersive environments
Social media: Facebook
New Zealanders spend more time on social media networks than any other country in the world.
Why Facebook?
• Dominant Social Networking Site in NZ
• 2nd most frequently visited site after Google
• 7 of the top 10 branded most ‘liked” Facebook pages are food
Source: NZ Marketing Magazine, July/Aug 2013
Top NZ Facebook pages Top branded FB pages (are local brands or versions of global brands) 1 Air New Zealand 2 McDonalds NZ 3 Domino’s Pizza NZ 4 Paw Justice (animal charity) 5 Mighty Ape 6 Coca-Cola NZ 7 KFC NZ 8 L&P 9 Skittles (only non-NZ Facebook page in top 10) 10 Whittaker’s
Source: NZ Marketing Magazine, July/Aug 2013
“Liked” top food brands (become a ‘fan’ of the page) Monitored the advertising on the Newsfeed on two FB profiles for 6 weeks
Facebook study
Findings: ads in 6 weeks
McDonalds NZ 57 Dominos Pizza NZ 40 Griffins 36 Cadburys NZ 35 KFC 29 Tip Top Ice-cream NZ 23 Nutra-Grain NZ 20 Milo NZ 15 Extra Gum NZ 14 Weetbix NZ 14 Pascall NZ 2
TOTAL 297
Other settings
Schools Food for sale, for fund-raising, vending machines, food marketing, sponsorship of sports, equipment or uniforms, prizes and certificates (e.g. player of the day vouchers), industry sponsored curriculum materials
Sports Sponsorship, celebrity endorsement, promotional items, sports drinks, prizes, competitions, player of the day vouchers
Outdoors Billboards, bus shelters, signage, on buses, etc Packaging Promotional characters, competitions, give-aways
Persuasive techniques
“oh mum it makes you feel like you’re famous!”
Conclusion
• Despite the self-regulatory system, children are
still exposed to a high number of advertisements for unhealthy food, on television and the internet and in other settings
• Clearly, self-regulation is not working • Need to ban advertising to chidren as has been
done in Norway