Evaluation of a public health media counter-advertising campaign about sugary drinks in los angeles county, 2012

Introduction: During 2012, the Choose Health LA (CHLA) “Sugar Pack” counter-advertising campaign was broadly launched across multiple public transit channels in Los Angeles County (LAC) to raise public awareness about sugary drinks' contribution to excess calories and obesity. Few studies to date have examined the contributory effects of counter-advertising strategies on reducing sugary drink consumption in the population. In this study, we report on results from an impact evaluation of this public ad campaign.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional street intercept survey to collect socio-demographics, information on sugary drink consumption (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, awareness, and behavioral intentions), and level of exposure to the CHLA ad campaign. The survey was administered to a sample of LAC adults targeted by the campaign (n=1,041). We examined the relationships between varying levels of ad exposure (high versus low) and individual-level outcomes including recall, awareness, and intention to change sugary drink consumption behaviors.

Results: The majority of adults surveyed were Latino (41%), between the ages of 25 and 44 years (38%), male (53%). Over half (55%) reported seeing the CHLA ads two or more times within the past two months; among them, respondents reported being very likely/likely to reduce their own (62%) or to encourage their friends and family (72%) to reduce their daily sugary drink consumption.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that hard-hitting ads about obesity prevention topics (i.e., reducing sugary drink consumption) may leave lasting impressions and can complement other approaches in obesity prevention (e.g., changes to the built and food environments).