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

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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

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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