Smart Start - Lesson 8



	Broken bones due to drinking too much pop and not enough milk are seen at younger and younger ages.

BATTLE THE FOOD-ADVERTISING ALLIGATOR!

Food ads are BIG business -- more than $33 billion a year is spent every year in the United States alone -- and they're directed at you, their favorite target market. Most of these "glamorous"-appearing foods are loaded with fat, salt and sugar. "Nutrition," you'd have to say, is definitely NOT their middle name.

Much of this glitzy advertising is aimed at youth, be it magazine spreads, outdoor signs, radio chatter, movie-screen commercials or TV spots that pop up every few minutes during your favorite shows. Advertising on TV shows aimed at youth really work the fast foods, soft drinks, candy and sugary cereals. Similar food products are even packaged to appeal more to young people. To battle this vicious food-advertising alligator and emerge the winner when it comes to your health trek, you need to be media literate and aware that you, yes you, are the target market.

Ideal kids -- Do these kids live in the real world or in the devious mind of advertisers?
Family fun -- Do you think a meal or food can really generate fun for the whole family?
Excitement -- Can this meal or food actually create the excitement shown?
Star power -- Will you be magically transformed into your favorite celebrity, or be just like them, just by eating the same thing?
Bandwagon -- Everyone else is obviously doing it, so why not me?
Heartstrings -- What a warm feeling this meal or food creates; sign me up!
Cartoon characters -- If Scooby likes it, it's got to be awesome. Wait, he's an animated dog!
Cool factor -- Man, I will be dripping style when I grub on that sugary, fattening, nutrition-less food. Right?
Jingles or slogans -- With a catchy song or phrase like that, how can I resist? It's got to be good for me!


During youth programs, ads take up 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends and 12 minutes per hour during the week. No current federal rule or regulation restricts advertising to kids. And marketing aimed directly at kids increased from $6.9 billion in 1992 to $15 billion in 2002, as reported by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. A strong factor in the 15-percent obesity rate among children? We think so.

WHAT EXACTLY ARE THEY TRYING TO DO?

Taking a Closer Look at Food Marketing and You

Carefully consider ads on TV and jot down your ideas about what the advertisers are up to. Working with the Food Marketing Strategies list above, determine which are at work in the ads (often there are several) and if there are others not listed that the advertisers are using.

THINK ABOUT THIS: What "works" on you or do you like more than the others? Why do you think this is so? What ads, if any, fail? Why do you think this is so?

GET CREATIVE -- TURN THE TABLES: Grab a sketch pad or work in a favorite drawing program to create ads that tell the truths about these products (like, if you've seen them, those anti-smoking TV ads designed to show the lies told by tobacco companies). Use some of the facts and figures you've learned from Health Trek to make your case stronger. Share them with your family and friends. Feels good, doesn't it?

NO THANKS, I'M MEDIA LITERATE AND TARGET MARKET SAVVY

So how does it feel to be a target market and manipulated by the tactics of food advertisers? Now that you're hip to being a target market in the eyes of these companies, have you changed your opinion when it comes to buying certain products? Will saying no to these foods still be difficult? Or will it now be a matter of saying, "No thanks, peddle your food elsewhere, Mr. Fatty-Sugar-Salt-Nutrition-less!"

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