Television food and beverage advertising in 2006

Background: As concerns about nutrition and overweight in the U.S. gain attention of the press, policy makers and the public, more eyes turn to the advertising and marketing of food and beverage to children as a possible contributing factor. Television remains a dominant forum for advertising food and beverage products to all consumers, including children. This study assesses food and beverage television advertisements aired across the U.S. during 2006. Method: A quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 42 randomly selected days of English and Spanish-language television advertisements from 2006 that were included in national ad buys on those days (each day of the week is represented 6 times). Results: The sample yielded more than 3,000 ads for analysis. We analyzed the content of all 3,000 English and Spanish-language television advertisements to determine the range and variety of foods and beverages advertised and how the persuasive claims were made, such as whether they used animated spokescharacters, promoted a contest, or invited viewers to visit a Web site. We analyzed the advertised products' nutritional content and the health claims made. We also analyzed when ads were shown (e.g. during children's or adult programming). Implications: In response to criticism from public health advocates and pressure from government, food and beverage companies have promised to reform their marketing practices targeting children. This study is the first to describe the 2006 U.S. television-advertising environment, and will provide an important baseline of data with which to compare televised food and beverage advertising in the future.