Archive for category Food marketing

Indfør et Reklamer–Ja tak skilt i stedet for Reklamer–Nej tak skiltet

Forbrugerombudsmanden er i gang med en evaluering af retningslinjerne for adresseløse forsendelser og modtager i den forbindelse kommentarer frem til 7. maj 2010. Jeg har derfor sendt nedenstående argumenter til Henrik Øe. Hvis du også har en holdning, så send dine kommentarer pr. mail til forbrugerombudsmanden@fs.dk. Du kan læse mere om ideen med et Ja-tak skilt på www.reklamer-jatak.dk og facebook

I denne opgang er der kun 2 som ønsker alle reklamer. Var det ikke mere rationelt med 2 Ja-tak mærker frem for 29 Nej tak-mærker?

 

Kære forbrugerombudsmand Henrik Øe, 

Jeg vil gerne opfordre dig til at vende ordningen med ’Reklamer Nej tak’-skilte om, så det forudsætter et aktivt tilvalg, hvis man ønsker at modtage reklameaviser. 

Med en ’Reklamer Ja tak’-ordning vil Danmark komme på den internationale dagsorden som et visionært land, der reelt gavner miljøet og hjælper detailhandlen ud af en skrue uden ende. 

Jeg har ved flere lejligheder hørt ledere fra detailhandlen sige, at de gerne var foruden tilbudsaviserne. Men som det ser ud nu, tør ingen kæde gå forrest af frygt for at tabe markedsandele. Måske er det bare noget de siger, selvom tilbudsaviserne er en god forretning for kæderne. Kæderne kræver nemlig betaling for eksponering i tilbudsaviserne fra fødevareproducenterne. Men hvorfor ikke tage kæderne på ordet? For hvem betaler i sidste ende? Det gør vi forbrugere. 

  • Jeg vil hellere have billigere varer end at modtage tilbudsaviser
  • Jeg vil gerne spare miljøet for enorme mængder papir og tryksværte.

Og hvorfor skal vi, der ikke ønsker tilbudsaviserne, have bøvlet med at bestille, hente og montere et klistermærke, når du blot ved at ændre ordningens standardindstilling kan gavne miljøet, sænke forbrugerpriserne og bidrage til en mindre ekstrem prisfokusering i Danmark? 

  • Jeg vil hellere have bedre varer end at modtage tilbudsaviser

I Danmark er prisfokuseringen på mad ekstremt stor sammenlignet med situationen i de fleste lande i fx Sydeuropa, hvor man bruger en meget større andel af lønnen på mad. Den særligt bastante danske tilbudsaviskultur bidrager i høj grad til at fastholde fokus på pris frem for kvalitet. 

Prisfokuseringen blokerer ifølge mange fødevareproducenter for kraftigere satsninger på udvikling og salg af mad af højere kvalitet, herunder også sundere mad og drikkevarer. Derfor har din revision af retningslinjerne for adresseløse forsendelser i realiteten også stor betydning for folkesundheden. 

Jeg håber derfor meget, at du vil sikre, at det fremover kun bliver lovligt at omdele reklamer hvis modtageren selv på forhånd har anmodet om det, præcis som det gælder for emails. En JA tak-ordning er baseret på forbrugernes frie valg, den hindrer ikke at forbrugere, som ønsker reklamer stadig kan få dem, den er nok mere spiselig for detailhandlen end fx afgifter eller andre begrænsninger, og ordning vil ikke øge udgifterne for staten. 

Med venlig hilsen 

Morten Strunge Meyer
mm@morten.me

Most Food Ads on Nickelodeon Still for Junk Food

Nearly 80 percent of food ads on the popular children’s network Nickelodeon are for foods of poor nutritional quality, according to an analysis conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. That represents a modest and not quite statistically significant drop from 2005, when CSPI researchers found that about 90 percent of food ads on Nick were for junk food.

Self-Regulation is unable to protect children in the US.

Read more.

Does a tax on junk food make sense?

The logic for a tax on fattening food may seem obvious. About one-third of Americans are obese, up from 15% in 1980. Fat people are more prone to heart disease, diabetes, bone disorders and cancer. An obese person’s annual medical costs are more than $700 greater than those of a comparable thin person. The total medical costs of obesity surpass $200 billion a year in America, which is higher than the bill for smoking.

But would a fat tax affect behaviour? Numerous studies have shown a relationship between the price of food, especially junk food, and body weight. As fast food has become relatively cheaper, so people have become fatter. A new paper* from the RAND Corporation, another think-tank, suggests that taxing calories could have a sizeable, if gradual, effect on people’s weight.

A new theoretical paper in the Journal of Public Economics even suggests that a tax on junk food could increase obesity, especially among physically active people. If junk food, which is quick and easy to obtain, becomes relatively dearer, people will spend more time shopping for fresh ingredients and preparing food at home. That could leave less time for exercise.

Read more in the Economist.

Eating High Levels Of Fructose Impairs Memory In Rats

Researchers at Georgia State University have found that diets high in fructose — a type of sugar found in most processed foods and beverages — impaired the spatial memory of adult rats. They placed rats in a pool of water to test their ability to learn to find a submerged platform, which allowed them to get out of the water. They then returned them to the pool two days later with no platform present to see if the rats could remember to swim to the platform’s location. Those rats on a fructose diet can’t remember as well where the platform was when you take it away. They swam more randomly than rats fed a control diet.

Read more.

See also this story on high fat diets and memory loss.

Addictive additives in food MAKE us eat more

According to David Kessler, the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, over-eating might be due to the combination of fats, sugars and salt used by food manufactures to trigger a ‘bliss’ point in the human brain.

It’s time to stop blaming individuals for being overweight or obese,’ says Kessler. The real problem is we’ve created a world where food is always available and that it is designed to make you want more of it. For millions of us, modern food is impossible to resist.

Read more.

Soda Tax is not Fair to less fortunate people

Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington, believes taxing soda fails to target obesity’s true causes — and is unfair to boot.

Drewnowski notes that soda consumption patterns in the general population correlate not just with obesity but with poverty, and that in focusing on the soda-obesity connection we fail to address other conditions associated with poverty, from sedentary lifestyles and television viewing to unemployment and “general hopelessness,” that contribute to weight gain.

“We should be looking at those things,” Drewnowski says. “That’s my complaint — why aren’t we?”

Read more.

The cost-effectiveness of removing TV advertising of high-fat and/or high-sugar food and beverages to Australian children

Although recognizing the limitations of the available evidence, restricting TV food advertising to children would be one of the most cost-effective population-based interventions available to governments today.

Read more.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes and Public Health

RWJF just published a summary of the latest research about the potential effects of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes on consumer behavior and health.

Although there are many significant differences between tobacco and SSBs, the tobacco example provides a model for how taxes can be used to promote public health. Emerging studies suggest that small taxes on SSBs are unlikely to affect obesity rates, but they can generate revenue that states can invest in improving public health.

Enjoy reading this 6 page-report.

Read more.

California’s Calorie Disclosure Law Goes into Effect

California has become the first state to require chain restaurants to provide brochures listing calories, sodium, saturated fat, and carbohydrates for each menu item at their stores. Both sit-down and drive-through restaurants with more than 20 outlets in the state must comply.

Read more.

Direct and powerful link between TV food advertising and calories consumed

In a series of experimental studies, Rudd Center researchers found that TV food advertisements increased automatic snacking by children and adults.

In the experiments, children and adults exposed to the advertising snacked more on available food, even if it was not specifically presented in the ads. The findings appear in the July issue of Health Psychology.

“This research shows a direct and powerful link between television food advertising and calories consumed by adults and children,” said Dr. Harris. “Food advertising triggers automatic eating, regardless of hunger, and is a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic. Reducing unhealthy food advertising to children is critical.”

Read more.