The Advertising Association announced last week that a coalition of food producers, retailers, media groups and other companies is backing the Government’s healthy eating strategy to the tune of GBP200m (US$396m). Industry believes it can make a unique contribution to communicating the healthy eating message. Campaigners are not so sure. Ben Cooper reports.
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When the Foresight Report on obesity was published last year, some in the food industry feared the worst. The report was sceptical about self-regulation, and tighter legislation on food marketing appeared to be in the offing in a bid to reverse the “obesogenic” trend in the UK.
But there was also a ray of hope for industry. The report suggested a multi-stranded, multi-stakeholder response was required. “There is no single solution to tackle obesity and it cannot be tackled by Government action alone,” Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said at the time.
Faced with a Government resolved to stepping up the fight against obesity, industry clearly needed to grasp that olive branch with both hands, and the initiative announced by the Advertising Association last week, which would see industry contribute some GBP200m (US$396m) to the communication of the healthy eating message over four years, would appear to be the first concerted attempt to do precisely that.
A coalition of food producers, retailers, media companies and fitness and healthcare companies is behind the advertising initiative, aimed at supporting the Department of Health’s Change4Life campaign. It is the first time the food, drink, broadcasting and advertising industries have worked with the Government to promote healthier lifestyles, the AA claimed.
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By GlobalDataSo far, there is little detail about what form the advertising will take. All the AA has said for now is that “industry will integrate core campaign messages into branded communications and activities and use broadcast media to amplify the central campaign theme”.
While some campaigners are awaiting further details before giving the initiative even the most cautious of welcomes, the Advertising Association was keen to stress the positive impact that industry involvement could bring in communicating a healthier eating message.
Jonathan Collett, head of communications at the Advertising Association, said the reach of the companies and the link their brands had with consumers meant they could put the message over in a different way from Government, while being able to utilise well honed marketing skills would also be a huge benefit. “There is a large amount of marketing skill at the companies so it does make sense to utilise those skills and use them as a force for good,” Collett told just-food.
Collett also said the thinking behind the initiative was in keeping with the call for a multi-stranded approach suggested after the Foresight Report was published. “It has long been an argument of ours that obesity is a multi-faceted problem with many causes and solutions and this initiative is very much geared to that end,” he said.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said it welcomed the fact that Government was including industry in the strategy. “It is a good sign that it seems to be that they want to work with industry on this, and that is something we have been calling for for some years now,” an FDF spokesperson said. “Government recognises that it needs to work with a broad range of people, including consumer brands, on this.”
A Department of Health spokesperson echoed Collett’s view that industry had something different to contribute. He said the fact that the healthy eating message might be incorporated into a brand advert could be a strength, as it would be less abstract. The marketing expertise of the advertisers, he added, could be “harnessed for good”.
Neither the AA nor the Department of Health could give further details about what form the advertising would take and the precise way the industry-led element would tie in with the core Change4Life communication. This is to be discussed in coming months, with a further announcement due in the autumn.
Jeanette Longfield of food pressure group Sustain said she expected “the devil might be in the detail”. Sustain is sceptical about Government partnering with industry while the marketing of junk food remained such a contentious issue. With regard to this particular initiative, Longfield said she believed its effectiveness relied on Government taking a tough stance in negotiating with industry.
The furthest Longfield would go towards any kind of endorsement was to say that if the Department of Health sets tough enough terms, then the initiative could be the “start of sort of positive engagement”. However, she said that if food brands that are involved in marketing junk food, even if they are also marketing healthy variants, were allowed direct association with the Change4Life campaign it would “completely devalue it”.
For Longfield, the tough negotiation would have to result in movement from food producers on the Traffic Lights front-of-pack labelling system, which food manufacturers remain opposed to. “If they won’t sign up to Traffic Lights labelling the deal should be off,” Longfield said. “And we should say that if they are still advertising junk food to children then what are they doing in this kind of partnership?” However, Longfield was pessimistic about the Government ultimately setting the tough terms that campaigners would like. “My suspicion is that the Department of Health will find it almost impossible to resist the temptation of cash.”
UK consumer group Which? was more positive about the initiative but also said that food companies should be brought to task on other issues associated with poor diet and health. “It’s great to see the industry recognise the role it has in helping to make the healthy choice the easy choice for UK consumers,” said Miranda Watson, campaigns manager at Which?.“But to have credibility, all food companies must match this approach with other steps such as clear labelling, responsible marketing to children and reductions in salt, sugar and fat. The Government’s success depends on its ability to translate its warm words on partnership working into changing the way people eat for the better.”
In terms of the industry projecting a responsible image and contributing to tackling the problem, parallels have been drawn with the alcohol industry, and there is a particular analogy with the responsible drinking campaign launched by Diageo. Diageo too stresses that its marketing expertise and its consumer insight make it able to communicate the responsible drinking message in a different way from public health agencies, thereby representing a complementary approach.
Campaigners, however, are sceptical about direct corporate involvement in public health education, and many food campaigners and academics are likely to reserve judgment on this initiative for the same reason, unless or until it can demonstrate some positive impact.
