Online ads focus on unhealthy food
AUCKLAND: New research into food advertisements on Facebook and YouTube has found that almost all products advertised on the social media sites are classified as unhealthy.
The report: ‘‘Volume, nature and potential impact of advertisements on Facebook and YouTube by food brands popular in New Zealand’’, was published in this week’s edition of the New Zealand Medical Journal.
Written by Stefanie Vandevijvere, Charlotte Aitken and Boyd Swinburn, it looks at posts on Facebook of 45 popular food, beverage and fast food company brands over two months, and YouTube channels of 15 popular brands over two years.
The study’s aim was to determine the extent, nature and potential impact of internet food and beverage marketing by analysis of the marketing of popular brands in New Zealand.
Research into Facebook showed the most popular page among packaged food brands was Whittaker’s Chocolate Lovers, however, the page with the highest potential reach among 13 to 18yearolds was Chupa Chups.
Among popular fast food companies, the most popular page and the page with the highest potential reach among 13 to 18yearolds was McDonald’s.
For popular beverage brands, CocaCola was the most popular in both respects.
The pages with the largest potential reach among 13 to 18yearolds, in each of the three categories, all had 100% of their advertised food or beverage products classed as ‘‘occasional’’ according to the Ministry of Health food and beverage classification system.
Occasional foods are foods and drinks that are high in saturated fat and/or salt and/or added sugar.
Analysis of YouTube showed the most popular YouTube channels in the packaged foods, fast food outlet and beverage categories were KitKat, Hell Pizza and V Energy NZ respectively.
Of the 15 YouTube channels analysed, 13 had 100% of their advertised products classed as for occasional consumption only.
The report showed the extent of unhealthy food advertising by popular food and beverage brands on Facebook is substantial in New Zealand.
Food brands post on average every three days, but some brands post more than once a day.
In comparison, advertising was lower on YouTube, with brands posting videos less than once a month on average on their respective channels.
Nearly every brand asked followers to like, comment, tag friends and share their posts.
The results come after a recent New Zealand Health Survey revealed one in three New Zealand children are either overweight or obese.
Social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube are very popular, with 93% of New Zealanders aged 1524 years using the internet in 2012.
This number is likely to have grown since.
In addition, 88% of internet users engage in social media.
The report concluded further research was needed into the compliance of marketers to follow the Advertising Standards Authority code, which states marketers cannot target any advertisements with occasional foods to adolescents younger than 14 years on social media.
The report stated further research also needed to investigate food advertising across all media platforms. — NZME