advertising advocacy *headdesk* moment

[maelorin]

Call to beef up new junk food ad code
Julian Lee Marketing Reporter (July 17, 2006)

A NEW code regulating the marketing of junk food will not stop children becoming obese, the Australian Consumers' Association says. It has repeated its call for the Federal Government to step in and legislate.

*headdesk*

Regulations and laws can't make people lose weight.

"We don't believe that a voluntary code is going to provide adequate protection for children from advertising of unhealthy foods that may influence their food preferences and the food they eat, which in turn will impact on diet and nutrition and have the potential to contribute to overweight [sic] and obesity," the association's food policy officer, Clare Hughes, said.

And I don't believe you can legislate 'protection' of this kind into existence.

We need to change the priorities of the keepers-of-the-purse-strings. Education ought to come before corporate handouts, for example.

Children's 'food preferences'? Perhaps some people ought to be reminded that they're the adults. They're responsible for making decisions on behalf of the children in their care ...

You can't legislate maturity into existence.

Comments

[maelorin]

i'm planning to look at the regulation of propaganda online - and advertising is a form of propaganda (though marketers dispute this voiciferously).

people are seriously discouraged from taking control or responsibility. particularly in the dominant u.s.a. culture.

and as you point out - in societies where money is value, and conspicuous consumption is the measure of worth, why would the average person 'waste' money buying more expensive 'food'. besides, maccas tells them how good their 'food' is, and has nice shiney 'family restaurants' to eat in. everywhere. so what's wrong with eating the cheaper stuff?

*sigh*

[verdigriis.livejournal.com]

I suppose I support attempts to legislate against certain kinds of advertising - particularly to children.

As for the obesity issue, it's kind of clear that some environments are more obesogenic (yes that's really the technical term in use...new jargon is born every day) than others. You're more likely to get fat in an office job with nasty hours than in a third world labour camp...

Governments in democracies can't controll individuals enough to make them be healthy, but they can hope to influence the environment, and thus the health of the population in general. Given the cost of our unhealthy lifestyles they have a vested interest in doing so. Companies with a stake in the status quo obviously try to counteract this as much as possible.

I agree with you that we've all been encouraged to think that everything we need will be provided for, and that we don't have to take responsibility for our own health. But on the other hand, there are numerous difficulties in the case of healthy eating. There are some pretty entrenched hurdles to overcome, some of which are powerful biological urges.

[maelorin]

many of the difficulties in healthy eating are social - which is why people clamour for laws, being social tools for change.

problem is, laws don't resolve the original problem - why people are living lifestyles that are unhealthy.

doesn't mean the laws might not be a good idea. just they'll not be enough. laws often follow social change, but they can induce change too.

social inertia is a serious problem.