A Baby Formula Designed for Chinese Babies: Content Analysis of Milk Formula Advertisements on Chinese Parenting Apps.

BACKGROUND: China is the largest market for infant formula. With the increasing use of smartphones, apps have become the latest tool used to promote milk formula. Formula manufacturers and distributors both have seized the popularity of apps as an avenue for marketing. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify and analyze milk formula ads featured on Chinese pregnancy and parenting apps, to build the first complete picture of app-based milk formula marketing techniques being used by milk formula brand variants on these apps, and to more fully understand the ad content that potentially undermines public health messaging about infant and young child feeding. METHODS: We searched for free-to-download Chinese parenting apps in the 360 App Store, the biggest Android app store in China. The final sample consisted of 353 unique formula ads from the 79 apps that met the inclusion criteria. We developed a content analysis coding tool for categorizing the marketing techniques used in ads, which included a total of 22 coding options developed across 4 categories: emotional imagery, marketing elements, claims, and advertising disclosure. RESULTS: The 353 milk formula ads were distributed across 31 companies, 44 brands, and 79 brand variants. Overall, 15 of 31 corporations were international with the remaining 16 being Chinese owned. An image of a natural pasture was the most commonly used emotional image among the brand variants (16/79). All variants included branding elements, and 75 variants linked directly to e-shops. Special price promotions were promoted by nearly half (n=39) of all variants. A total of 5 variants included a celebrity endorsement in their advertising. A total of 25 of the 79 variants made a product quality claim. Only 14 variants made a direct advertisement disclosure. CONCLUSIONS: The purpose of marketing messages is to widen the use of formula and normalize formula as an appropriate food for all infants and young children, rather than as a specialized food for those unable to breastfeed. Policy makers should take steps to establish an appropriate regulatory framework and provide detailed monitoring and enforcement to ensure that milk formula marketing practices do not undermine breastfeeding norms and behaviors.

At-risk advertising by Australian chiropractors and physiotherapists.

Background: Society expects professionals to promote their businesses in an ethical manner, refraining from misleading or deceptive marketing due to the potential to harm members of the community. In Australia this expectation resides in the Australian registration board advertising guidelines or the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. Registration board data indicate there are many health care professionals failing to meet these expectations. The aims of this research were to determine the frequency, type and nature of at-risk advertising by Australian chiropractors and physiotherapists and whether there is a correlation between professional association membership and advertising guideline compliance. Method: A cross sectional audit examining practitioner advertising was performed on representative samples of Australian chiropractors and physiotherapists. Two auditors examined advertising by 380 physiotherapists and 359 chiropractors for material potentially in breach of the regulatory authorities' advertising guidelines. The advertising appeared on practitioner websites and linked Facebook pages. Results: Two-hundred and fifty-eight (72%) audited chiropractors and 231 (61%) audited physiotherapists had breaches of the Advertising Guidelines on their websites and linked Facebook pages. The frequency of breaches by chiropractors was higher. The type and nature of the breaches by chiropractors was potentially more harmful. Membership in a professional association influenced neither the frequency nor the severity of breaches with chiropractors. Discussion: Advertising breaches were common in both samples even though regulators and professional associations provide practitioners with explicit information on how to comply with advertising guidelines. Breaches by chiropractors were more numerous and more serious due to their greater potential to lead consumers to make inappropriate and potentially harmful healthcare decisions.Stronger enforcement strategies may have a positive effect on compliance.

Use of imagery and text that could convey reduced harm in American Spirit advertisements.

BACKGROUND: In 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to three tobacco companies regarding use of the terms 'natural' and/or 'additive-free' to describe their products, as these terms inaccurately convey reduced harm. Yet, tobacco companies engage in a variety of alternate techniques to attempt to convey the same 'natural' (and thus reduced harm) message. It is critical to monitor these practices to inform regulatory action. OBJECTIVE: To describe the marketing techniques used in Natural American Spirit (American Spirit) ads that could convey a natural and less harmful product image. METHODS: Trained coders content analysed 142 American Spirit ads from 2012 to 2016. RESULTS: In addition to use of the terms 'natural' and 'additive-free', American Spirit ads engage in a variety of other linguistic and iconic techniques that could convey reduced harm, such as references to small, local or organic farming, eco-friendly practices, and plant, farming and other nature-related imagery. CONCLUSIONS: American Spirit ads use a wide range of marketing techniques to convey a natural product image, which could subsequently communicate reduced harm.

[Whether the advertisement of dietary supplements is objective source of data about their impact on health? Analysis of broadcasting advertisements in the terms of the food law]. / Czy reklama suplementów diety jest obiektywnym zródlem informacji o ich wplywie na zdrowie? Analiza reklam radoiowo-telewizyjnych w swietle przepisów prawa zywnosciowego.

INTRODUCTION: Dietary supplements are intensively advertised in the media. Due to their form analogous to drugs many people don't notice differences between them, although it is fundamental. The dietary supplement, as the category of food don't have medicinal properties and suggesting such properties by producers is forbidden. The aim of this study was analysis of advertisements of dietary supplements, transmitted in the media in accordance with the law requirements, especially with the conditions of nutrition and health claims established in 2012. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Advertisements of dietary supplements, transmitted in the period of one week (17-23 of September 2014 r.) into 5 radio and television channels. RESULTS: In the analysed period commercials of 27 assortments of the dietary supplement were being transmitted. Advertisements of 23 of them declared improvement the action of organs or concentration of biochemical indicators in the body. The strength of declarations about the benefits of action of dietary supplements was diversified, from expressions such as "support" to "treat" and "prevent". In some advertisements the authority of medical profession was being used. Moreover many advertisements emphasized the unique and comprehensive active ingredients of dietary supplement on the market. CONCLUSIONS: Advertisements of dietary supplements promise beneficial effect to the human body. In spite of more and more detailed legal requirements many of them are going beyond conditions established for food. It can cause incorrect opinion about the role of dietary supplements in curing medical disorders.

Nutrition recommendations and the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative's 2014 approved food and beverage product list.

We compare the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative's (CFBAI's) April 2014 list of food and beverage products approved to be advertised on children's television programs with the federal Interagency Working Group's nutrition recommendations for such advertised products. Products were assessed by using the nutrients to limit (saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and sodium) component of the Interagency Working Group's recommendations. Fifty-three percent of the listed products did not meet the nutrition recommendations and, therefore, were ineligible to be advertised. We recommend continued monitoring of food and beverage products marketed to children.

Too little, too late: ineffective regulation of dietary supplements in the United States.

Millions of people in the United States consume dietary supplements hoping to maintain or improve their health; however, extensive research has failed to demonstrate the efficacy of numerous supplements in disease prevention. In addition, concerns about the safety of routine and high-dose supplementation have been raised. The Food and Drug Administration regulates dietary supplement quality, safety, and labeling, and the Federal Trade Commission monitors advertisements and marketing; still, vast enforcement challenges remain, and optimal governmental oversight has not been achieved. If the composition and quality of ingredients cannot be reliably ensured, the validity of research on dietary supplements is questionable. Moreover, the health of the US public is put at risk.

Advertising of fast food to children on Australian television: the impact of industry self-regulation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of the quick-service restaurant industry (QSRI) self-regulatory initiative on fast-food advertising to children on Australian commercial television. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analysis of advertisements for foods on the three main free-to-air commercial television channels (channels 7, 9 and 10) in Sydney, Australia, over 4 days in both May 2009 and April 2010 in terms of: number of advertisements; types of food (coded core [healthy] foods, non-core [unhealthy] foods, miscellaneous foods; or fast foods); whether advertised meals were intended for children; whether advertisements were broadcast during children's peak viewing times; and whether the company in question was a signatory to the QSRI initiative. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in the mean frequency and rate of food advertisements per hour from 2009 to 2010; change in the types of fast-food meals (healthier alternatives [at least one nutrient-dense, low-energy food considered part of a healthy diet for children], non-core [high in undesirable nutrients and not considered part of a healthy diet for children], and other) being advertised; and proportion of children's energy requirements provided by fast-food meals. RESULTS: From 2009 to 2010, the mean frequency of fast-food advertisements increased from 1.1 to 1.5 per hour. While non-core fast foods comprised a lesser share of fast-food advertising in 2010 than 2009, the mean frequency at which they were advertised during times when the largest numbers of children were watching television remained the same (1.3 per hour in both 2009 and 2010). Family meals advertised for children's consumption in 2010 provided energy far in excess of children's requirements. CONCLUSIONS: Children's exposure to unhealthy fast-food advertising has not changed following the introduction of self-regulation, and some fast foods advertised for children's consumption contain excessive energy. The limited impact of self-regulation suggests that governments should define the policy framework for regulating fast-food advertising to children.

Is trivialisation of alcohol consumption a laughing matter? Alcohol incidence in a metropolitan daily newspaper's comic strips.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: A number of studies have looked at the incidence and nature of depictions of alcohol in various media, primarily in movies, television and magazines. However, there have been few studies of depictions of alcohol in comic strips in newspapers. DESIGN AND METHODS: This study analysed the content of the five comic strips in the 258 weekday editions of a metropolitan newspaper over a period of 1 year. Where alcohol was depicted, this was classified as either integral or incidental to the theme or story of that day's strip. As an indication of the nature of the depiction and in the absence of specific codes for the depiction of alcohol in comic strips, depictions were assessed against the Australian Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC). RESULTS: Of the 1 290 individual comic strips, 4% (n = 54) depicted alcohol. Depictions were equal in number incidental and integral to the 'story'. Over half of the strips depicting alcohol were deemed to breach the ABAC, with the most common breach related to trivialisation of alcohol consumption. One strip accounted for over 60% of all depictions with the majority breaching the ABAC. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that newspaper publishers should consider a code for depictions of alcohol (and other unhealthy or risky products/behaviours) in comics. At the very least, comics that trivialise the abuse of alcohol should be excluded under such a code.

Evaluation of non-English dietary supplement advertisements in an ethnic minority community in America.

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to evaluate the rate at which non-English dietary supplement advertisements distributed in a sampled ethnic minority community are in compliance with the federal advertising regulations. The secondary objective was to assess the availability of supporting evidence to substantiate the advertised health claims. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: The contents of dietary supplement advertisements from the Los Angeles Korea Times and the Los Angeles Korea Daily were evaluated during the month of July 2005. After removing duplicate advertisements, the percentage of advertisements making prohibited disease claims and DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) disclaimer statements was determined. The presence of data substantiating advertised claims was determined by requesting data from the manufacturers and browsing the manufacturers' websites. An observational technique was utilised for content analysis, and data analysis was conducted using quantitative descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Disease claims were present in 84.5%, while DHSEA disclaimer statements were present in only 18.4% of the advertisements. Data to substantiate the claims were provided by 53.4% of the manufacturers. The majority of the additional information consisted of repetition of the advertised claims and consumer testimonies. Experimental data were available for only 13.6% of the products. CONCLUSIONS: The high rate of non-compliance with federal regulations suggests a need for better oversight of non-English promotions of dietary supplements.