Only Pressure Groups Complain About Food Commercials

Recent calls in the UK for bans on food advertising and in particular that which is aimed specifically at children have been coming from pressure groups rather than members of the public, claim the AA.

These claims are from a new survey by the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA); its findings tie in with Independent Television Commission records, that show only a handful of nutrition-related complaints annually. The EASA survey goes on to say that the complaints “related principally to the alleged harmful effects of food advertising … rather than complaints about specific advertisements.”

Jennies Bas, Communications Manager of the AA’s newly established Food Advertising Unit, said, “This proves that objections to food advertising are not based on a groundswell of public opinion. They are an attempt by food activists to impose a proscriptive and petty political agenda – based on unsubstantiated personal beliefs – on the population at large.”