Not perfect, but a good place to start.
The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), a program of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, today announced a groundbreaking agreement that will change the landscape of what is advertised to kids by the nation’s largest food and…
A few months ago Dr. Thomas Farley, the Health Commissioner for NYC, spoke at Bellevue Hospital about reversing the damage that decades of advertising has wrought on our health status. Pointing out that while health education is all well and good, it has not actually worked yet. Adults are gaining weight at an astronomical rate, and children aren’t far behind. Health care professionals have neither the time nor the funding needed to change patients’ behavioral patterns in-office, so Farley argued, why not take a page from the advertiser’s handbook and give them a taste of their own medicine? When you go to a local grocery store, what do you see but posters for soda, chips, high-sugar & high-fat foods. Fighting fire with fire, Farley introduced “Pouring on the Pounds;” you know, those disgusting subway ads depicting a soda being poured into a glass and turning to fat. Sure, they’re gross. But you know what, they grab your attention and make an impact at a much cheaper cost and faster rate than your doctor telling you to cut back on the sugar-sweetened beverages.
It looks like the CFBAI is also paying attention to the power of advertising, and making changes at one of the roots of the problem. I’m excited to see how this effort pans out, it’s one of the most promising to-date.
you can't eat bread!? 