Soda Advertising Up

A new study suggests companies that make soft drinks are doubling TV advertising aimed at children and teenagers.

The Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity says minority children see nearly twice as much advertising as white youngsters do.

Young people are being exposed to a massive amount of marketing for sugary drinks, such as full-calorie soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, and fruit drinks, according to a new study from the Rudd Center.

According to the study, full-calorie soda TV advertising targeting children and teens doubled from 2008 to 2010. The study says black children and teens saw 80 to 90-percent more ads than white kids, and children watching Spanish-language TV saw almost 50-percent more ads for sugary and energy drinks than white children. Hispanic teenagers saw 99-percent more ads for sugary and energy drinks.

If you don't want your kids to drink extra soda, then don't buy it for them. Educate them, and tell them what you want from them, then enforce it.

The study is the most comprehensive and science-based assessment of sugary drink nutrition and marketing ever conducted. The data show that companies marketing sugary drinks target young people, especially black and Hispanic youth.

The report's authors studied marketing by 14 beverage companies and examined the nutritional quality of nearly 600 products including full-calorie soda, energy drinks, fruit drinks, flavored water, sports drinks, and iced teas, as well as diet energy drinks and diet children's fruit drinks.

"Beverage companies have pledged to improve child-directed advertising," said lead researcher Jennifer Harris, PhD, MBA, Director of Marketing Initiatives at the Rudd Center. "But we are not seeing a true decrease in marketing exposure. Instead companies have shifted from traditional media to newer forms that engage youth through rewards for purchasing sugary drinks, community events, cause-related marketing, promotions, product placements, social media, and smartphones."

The children and young teens are the folks being targeted by soft drink companies, and the amount of advertising targeting our kids has doubled since 2007. So, we are going to have to get tougher.

Filed Under: advertising, parents, soda, teenagers

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