A scientific study published on 18.12.19 on International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reveals Coca-Cola Company's strategy to lure i teenager, children and their mothers. False propaganda on health and well-being, aimed at minimizing the perception of the risks associated with the consumption of sugary and carbonated drinks. Shame!
Big Food and junk food, the profit strategy
The study 'Targeting Children and Their Mothers, Building Allies and Marginalizing Opposition: An Analysis of Two Coca-Cola Public Relations Requests for Proposals'was made by the researchers of the Global Obesity Center, Deakin University (Australia) and the NGO U.S. Right to Know (Oakland, CA, USA).
Researchers have highlighted how the strategies of Coca-Cola Company - like those of other giants of Big food - are functional to promote interests related to the sale of highly profitable and at the same time unhealthy food and beverages. (2) Which are considered one of the main drivers of obesity and chronic diet-related diseases (Non-Communicable Diseases, NCDs). With epidemic impact on the public health of citizens of the entire planet. (3)
'Consolidating credibility in the area of health and well-being'
'Increase in adolescents the perception of health linked to the Coca-Cola brand ',' Consolidating credibility in the area of health and well-being'. These were the 'behind the scenes' objectives of public relations, at the 2016 Rio Olympics as well as in the campaign'Movement Is Happiness'(2013-2014).
Ma the devil makes the pots - cans, in this case - and not the lids. The association U.S. Right to Know has in fact acquired the documents of the lobbyists of the Corporation, through a simple request for access to the public files where they were registered. And he analyzed them along with advertising, marketing campaigns, PR agency work, press releases and theirs outcome.
'Documents show that Coca-Cola has tried to use public relations to manipulate teens into thinking that sugary soda is healthy, when it actually increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and other diseases.'(Gary Ruskin, co-author of the study and co-director of U.S. Right to Know).
Target, teenagers and mothers
The strategy of communication analyzed in the study aimed specifically at reaching 'teenagers and moms' through 'influencer ' (in particular on the social media) and celebrities, as well as i 'global media'. In Rio they were therefore hired, among others, social media influencers including Jake Boys, (4) the star of Radio Disney Alli Simpson and various athletes of the USA Olympic team.
The effectiveness of the 'Rio campaign' was measured through two KPIs (Key Performance Indicators):
- outreach. 21 million adolescents have been reached, with an accuracy rate of 88% on the 13-20 age target. Targets reached, in 90% of cases, on mobile phone platforms,
- interaction. The interaction of adolescents with the brand of Corporation, measured through a series of indicators, it increased by 7 points during the Olympic Games.
To marginalize the detractors
Coke - in the 11.754 pages of documents analyzed - dedicates priority to taking a leading role in the health and wellness area (!) Ed 'marginalize detractors'. For 'build broad support across a range of categories, including consumers, women, civil servants and politicians, personalities and the media '. And so:
- solid relationships with journalists 'that matter', to be strengthened also through meetings vis-à-vis. To reaffirm Coke's leading role and prevent negative coverage of media,
- build alliances, including with other PR organizations and agencies, to marginalize the opposition. Thus it is explained, for example, it sponsor of Coca-Cola at AltroConsumo annual events. (5)
The great puppeteers thus they manipulate public opinion and influence politics. With profusion of investments in lobbying activities (Corporate Policy Activities, CPA), supported by public relations. Too bad that the success of the strategies of the Corporation is to the detriment of civil society. As happened in Italy, in the two recent examples concerning:
- the Nutri-Score. The alliance between Coca-Cola, Ferrero and Coldiretti has also led the current Minister of Health Roberto Speranza - among other Italian politicians (6) - to lash out against the 'smart label'. Although its usefulness for consumers to distinguish the junk food,
- the Sugar Tax. Coca Cola Italia, thanks to strong political pressure accompanied by television advertising with evidence of the workforce employed in the Bel Paese and threats of blocking investments, has already managed to weaken the government tax forecast for the year 85 by 2020%. (7)
Impact on childhood obesity
Children under the age of 12 are not mentioned in the Coke documents. But it is clear that they and their mothers were also targeted by the promotional campaigns analyzed in the study. And that's why they were drafted an influencer and celebrities able to reap consensus even on the little ones. One above all, the singer and hostess of Radio Disney Alli Simpson. With all due respect to the WHO recommendations on advertising aimed at children.
Children's exposure the commercialization of unhealthy foods, according to the researchers, plays a significant role in the continuing increase in childhood obesity rates worldwide. The prevalence of which, as we have seen, is alarming also in Europe. In Italy above all (v. Istat report 29.10.19). With the risk, among other things, of the increased occurrence of 13 types of tumors. (8)
Corporate Social Responsibility, SDGs?
'Globally, Coca Cola is publicly committed to reducing children's exposure to the marketing of harmful products. But what they say in public is at odds with their internal documents which show how they have deliberately decided to target children as part of their promotion efforts.'(Gary Sacks, associate professor at Deakin University, co-author of the study. See note 1).
Harvard University, TH Chan School of Public Health, published on 19.12.19 an epidemiological study on obesity rates in the United States. (9) The researchers looked at data on body mass index (Body Mass Index, BMI) related to 6,2 million adults, collected between 1993 and 2016, in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey, BRFSS). On this basis, it was predicted that 'by 2030 about half of the adult population of the United States will be plagued by obesity and a quarter by severe obesity '. With an extraordinary impact, obviously, also on the costs of public health.
La Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to which the Corporation dedicating substantial manuals every year should aim at the crucial objective, in the food sector, of transforming their role from 'key to the problem' to 'key to the solution'. Until this happens, the citizens-ConsumActors-voters will have to fight to oppose industrial strategies really contrary to the primary interest of every individual, health.
The institutions they must in turn intervene with mandatory measures. To prevent Big food to continue to outsource the enormous health and social costs of their junk food to the community. It is worth remembering - between 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the UN Agenda 2030 - Objective n. 12, 'Responsible production and consumption '. 68% of the best-selling baby food in Europe is junk food, according to the latest Commission study European. When is the change?
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Benjamin Wood, Gary Ruskin, Gary Sacks (2019). Targeting Children and Their Mothers, Building Allies and Marginalizing Opposition: An Analysis of Two Coca-Cola Public Relations Requests for Proposals. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17 (1), 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010012. The documents cited in the study are available on the website of U.S. Right to Know, on page https://usrtk.org/academic-work/coke-pr-campaigns-tried-to-influence-teens-views-on-health-impacts-of-soda-study-says/
(2) Moodie R, Stuckler D, Monteiro C, Shero, N, Neal B, Thamarangsi T, Lincoln P, Casswell S. (2013). Profits and pandemics: Prevention of harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed food and drink industries. Lancet 2013, 381, 670–679. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)62089-3
(3) Obesity is indeed considered one of the three causes of the ongoing Global Syndemic, according to the homonymous study published in the Lancet. See previous article https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/idee/global-syndemic-il-mix-micidiale-di-malnutrizione-e-crisi-ecologica
(4) He social media influencers Jake Boys has also been enlisted on other occasions, on Tv-Coke. Following the same sports game script associated with the brand, as the Coca-Cola Santa Claus Championship, at Christmas 2016 (see https://youtu.be/QdyZKC5ymWI)
(5) The mere fact of associating the Coca-Cola brand with the annual events of the first consumer organization in Italy is to consolidate the reputation of the Corporation. By placing your own flag on the house not for sale
(6) See note 5 in the previous article https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/la-rivoluzione-francese-del-cibo-buono
(7) NB: the Sugar Tax it has already been successfully applied in many countries around the world, including in Europe. With the appreciable result of inducing the producers of soft drink to halve the amount of sugar, as we have demonstrated by comparing the same drinks sold in England and Italy. V. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/salute/aranciate-in-italia-doppia-razione-di-zucchero. Paradoxically, in reducing the exposure of the population to the risks associated with excessive sugar intake, bottlers also save on raw material costs. After all, the recent purchase of Lurisia by Coca-Cola Italia demonstrates how bottling natural mineral water can represent an excellent alternative for doing business on beverages, without contributing to the diabetes epidemic. V. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/salute/diabete-emergenza-italia
(8) See previous article https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/salute/i-bambini-obesi-e-in-sovrappeso-a-maggior-rischio-tumore
(9) Zachary J. Ward, Sara N. Bleich, Angie L. Cradock, Jessica L. Barrett, Catherine M. Giles, Chasmine Flax, Michael W. Long, Steven L. Gortmaker (2019). Projected US State-Level Prevalence of Adult Obesity and Severe Obesity. New England Journal of Medicine, December 19, 2019, doi: 10.1056 / NEJMsa1909301
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
