Advertisers Rally Against Ban On Fast Food Promotion
The Advertising Association has criticised hard-hitting proposals to restrict the promotion of junk food to children, claiming they would do little to combat the growing problem of obesity.
The organisation’s director general, Andrew Brown, claims that plans put forward by the Food Standards Agency to curb fast food advertising and promotions would be totally ineffective in improving people’s eating habits.
The FSA is to consider a wide range of proposals for action on changing the way food is promoted to children at a board meeting later today. These include plans to prevent celebrities from endorsing fast junk food brands, and calls on sports events to only accept sponsorships associated with healthier options.
Brown dismissed the plans, saying: “We do not believe that the FSA proposal to curtail already limited resources devoted to sport and physical activity by new restrictions on brand sponsorship will be helpful in tackling obesity in the long-term.”
He added: “It is argued that the cumulative effect of advertising is leading to poorer diets. However, this does not fit with the fact that the total amount of money spent on advertising food has consistently fallen over the last fifteen years, from around 15% of all advertising in 1986 to around 9% in 2002.”
The Advertising Association is instead proposing a long-term commitment to promoting healthier lifestyles, supported by a ongoing and well-funded advertising campaign to promote the benefits of a balanced diet (see Advertisers Warn Against Ban On Fast Food Commercials).
The Government is also sceptical over the benefits of a ban on fast food advertising targeted at children. Last week Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, called on the advertising industry to use its ‘creativity’ to tackle the growing problem of obesity.
She rejected calls for a ban on fast food commercials during children’s television programmes, and said that advertising messages promoting healthy eating could be far more effective than a well meaning Government campaign (see Advertisers Urged To Use Creativity In Obesity Battle).
Advertising Association: 020 828 2771 www.adassoc.org.uk
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