We're Not Buying It: An Advocacy Approach to Exposing Food Marketing to Children

INTRODUCTION: In communities across the country, the foods consumed by children and families has a great deal to do with the marketing practices of major food and beverage companies. By their own estimates, food and beverage companies spend $2 billion per year marketing their products – most of which are unhealthy -- to children alone. The action of local and state advocates offers immense opportunities to shift the policies that drive intensive marketing and access to unhealthy food. METHODS: Drawing on recent food marketing research and tactics employed by the food and beverage industry to hamper food policy, Prevention Institute has created We're Not Buying It, a video that reveals the deceptive lengths that food industries will go to in order to promote unhealthy foods to kids. RESULTS:By highlighting industry practices--from soda companies using school marketing campaigns disguised as charities, to food package labels meant to mislead parents, to online games like trixworld.com--We're Not Buying It calls into question industry claims that they're trying to be part of the solution in the fight for kids' health. Between October 2011 and January 2012, We're Not Buying It has been viewed over 25,000 times, and generated thousands of petition signatures calling for science-based guidelines for foods marketed to kids. DISCUSSION: Using the We're Not Buying It campaign as a case study, this session will delineate strategies to help engage parents and communities in a policy advocacy approach to improve food marketing practices.