Art & Commerce: The Advertising Diet

The obesity epidemic in America started five years ago. The ever-widening problem had been building for some time before that, but in 2003, advocacy groups and politicians sounded the alarm that America was fat and getting fatter. Childhood obesity carries with it staggering risks of disease and huge additional costs for medical care.The obesity outcry of a few years ago was squarely pointed at the food and advertising industries. The simple and pervasive problem, it was claimed, was that food companies were making bad-for-us foods and advertising was causing obesity. If only the problem was that simple, there could likely be a simple solution. But, alas, it just wasn't, it just isn't, the case. In fact, more than 80 percent of parents believe that if their kids are overweight, they are to blame.The major food companies, at first, were caught completely off guard by the criticism. Their initial response was "what did we do wrong?" The foods and related advertising promoting them have been part of the American diet for well over 50 years. Baby boomers grew up with presweetened cereal and fast food. Product development and advertising practice have essentially gone unchanged. There are more products and choices, to be sure. The media marketplace has also changed dramatically. But, food and beverage advertising dollars targeting children are down, not up. The obesity problem is certainly real, though. It is a complex multi-dimensional issue. The commitment to and budgets for physical education in schools are way down. After-school sports programs have been cut. No one knows what a portion size should be. The food pyramid went from outdated to an update that is so confusing we don't know what an appropriate eating regimen is. Today's parents are afraid to send their kids outside after school to run around. Many moms are so busy they don't have or make the time to cook complete, well-balanced meals for dinner. Everybody's running to the next activity, but too few of us are running for health and wellness. The solution is energy balance: Burn the calories we consume. We are surely out of balance, but food and beverage advertising has nothing to do with that.The Institute of Medicine 2006 report "Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity?" examined every food study conducted in America and found no linkage between advertising and obesity. Advertising informs children about food and beverage brand options, but it does not proscribe quantity or calorie content kids consume. That notwithstanding, the food companies and advertising agencies got the wake-up call. Frito-Lay removed trans fats from all of its snack products long before New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg even considered the issue. Parent company PepsiCo created a Smart Spot program and issued a corporate edict that a minimum of 50 percent of the company's new products had to fulfill better-for-you food criteria. General Mills reformulated its cereals to use whole grains and altered advertising guidelines to depict its foods in complete and appropriate meal or snacking contexts. Kraft introduced 100-calorie packs, a new line of South Beach Diet products, stated it would no longer advertise its high-fat or sugar products to children and created a new Sensible Solutions program. McDonald's extended a line of salads and revised its Happy Meals to include a choice of skim milk or Apple Dippers in place of soft drinks and fries. Virtually overnight, McDonald's became the largest purchaser of apples in the United States. Other proactive company initiatives in food and advertising practice are being implemented at a dizzying pace. The corporate actions by the food companies have been dramatic in their range, scope and speed. In a business where new product introductions and corporate policy can take years to implement, market change and impact have moved at light speed. And still the major food companies are under siege. There is a fundamental distrust that they are committed to doing well by doing good. They are. It's a new age. Self-regulation and a new Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative launched by the Council of Better Business Bureaus are working actively and effectively to encourage and realize new marketing practices in health and wellness. The solution to the obesity crisis is not simple. It will require a wide range of constituencies to pull together to inspire social change—parents, teachers, government, industry and kids themselves. Industry is doing its part. It can and will do more. But, saber-rattling lawsuits and threatened regulation are not the solution. They polarize parties who need to work together to achieve concerted joint action for positive change. To be sure, advertising is a powerful communications form. And youth are powerful ambassadors for social movements. The pervasive adoption of seat-belt usage in this country happened not because of laws, but because kids urged parents to buckle up. The designated driver is a teen initiative that has tremendously reduced drunken driving among youth. Both were promoted through Advertising Council efforts, but both were adopted and evangelized by youth. Word of mouth, the kid buzz network, is the most powerful form of advertising today.So it can be, should be and will be for health and wellness. Advertising has not caused the obesity epidemic in America, but it can be a major part of the solution to the problem. We need more, not less advertising messaging to kids about good foods, healthy diet, exercise and energy balance. New proactive advertising to engage and inform our youth about the dynamics of wellness can empower kids to drive a new social movement as the ambassadors for a healthier America.Paul Kurnit is president of KidShop and a professor of marketing at Pace University's Lubin School of Business. He can be reached at paul@kidshopbiz.com or pkurnit@pace.edu.

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Art & Commerce: The Advertising Diet

Paul Kurnit

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Paul Kurnit