Warning: Don’t let the beverage industry harm your kids
Thursday, November 04, 2021Recent research has found that countermarketing campaigns can be an effective way to reduce the demand for sugary drinks by exposing the beverage industry’s manipulative behavior, in much the same way that anti-tobacco campaigns successfully villainized Big Tobacco. However, as BMSG Director Dr. Lori Dorfman points out in this commentary for AJPH, grassroots health messages rarely have the same reach as well-funded efforts like the original “Truth” campaign, which was funded using money from a tobacco settlement. And while social media is cheap, platforms like Facebook are part of the problem, as they are among the world’s largest junk food marketers. Read the commentary to learn the steps Dr. Dorfman recommends for ensuring that anti-soda countermarketing campaigns are as effective as possible.