Food companies target your kids with junk food ads, but not theirs

by Lauren Tousignant/NYPOST

Jan 19,2019

In fact, junk food made up a whopping 86 percent of ad spending for black-targeted television and 82 percent for Spanish-language television.

Further, despite the fact that food companies overall TV ad spend declined between 2013 and 2017, junk food ads targeting black viewers rose 50 percent. This means black teens saw twice as many ads for junk food products compared to white teens in 2017.

“Food companies have introduced healthier products and established corporate responsibility programs to support health and wellness among their customers,” the report’s lead author, Jennifer Harris of University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, said in a statement.

“But this study shows that they continue to spend 8 of 10 TV advertising dollars on fast food, candy, sugary drinks, and unhealthy snacks, with even more advertising for these products targeted to Black and Hispanic youth.”

Researchers reviewed the targeted ad efforts of 32 restaurants and food and beverage companies that spent $100 million or more to reach kids and teens in 2017. These companies spent nearly $11 billion on TV ads in 2017, with $1.1 billion spent on black and Spanish-speaking programming……   to read more of this story, click here