A new national coalition of health and community organisations from across Australia was announced today to reduce alcohol-related harm. Comprising an initial 26 major organisations with a focus on public health and alcohol, the National Alliance for Action on Alcohol (NAAA) will focus on reducing alcohol related problems in the community. One in five Australians ages 14+ years drink at short-term risky/high-risk levels at least once a month. This equates to more than 42 million occasions of risky... ...Read more »
Forget TV and billboards, the hottest place to advertise is online! Joining the ranks of dancing babies, sneezing pandas and dance-crazed bridal parties, Procter & Gamble’s Bounty “Bring It” music video debuted on YouTube March 12, 2010.The first-ever music video from the Bounty brand puts a humorous spin on a paper towel product demonstration set to rap music performed by the “Paper Towel Gang.” The video, approximately two minutes in length, showcases an actual... ...Read more »
At the Australian FoodLegal Symposium, which took place on February 23, manufacturers and health experts alike called for food firms to take greater responsibility for creating healthier offerings, especially with regards to salt. As manufacturers respond to these calls, the question then turns to how such efforts should be communicated. Unilever, for instance, has made significant strides in cutting out salt and trans fat from its products; however, its efforts have been accompanied by very little... ...Read more »
Health campaigners have slammed the decision by sports associations to sign up companies and brands related to junk food as sponsors. Mars Inc yesterday (9 March) announced it had signed a four-year sponsorship deal with the Scottish Football Association in a bid to encourage more adults to play football in Scotland. The move follows a deal with Mars and the English FA last year and will include media partnerships with The Sun in Scotland and its existing relationship with radio station Talksport. The... ...Read more »
Kellogg has brushed off criticism for its Coco-Pops outdoor campaign in the UK that encourages children to eat the chocolate-flavoured cereal after school. A spokesperson for the cereal giant told just-food yesterday (3 March) that it had received a number of complaints about the UK advertising campaign but was sanguine about the criticism. “Some people supported it, some people didn’t like it. That’s the nature of the beast,” the spokesperson said. The firm declined to comment... ...Read more »
Restrictions on food television commercials aimed at children may have reduced the number of kids’ TV food ads, but children are still being targeted with cross-promotional tactics and product placement. According to a study from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, cross-promotions on food packaging aimed at children nearly doubled between 2006 and 2008 in the US. The US, the UK and Australia have all taken steps to restrict food advertising targeting children, particularly... ...Read more »
Unilever Australasia, parent company of many of Australia’s favourite food, beverage and home and personal care brands including Streets Ice Cream, Dove, Rexona, Omo and Lipton, has this month started to introduce signature brand advertising on all newly-produced Unilever TV, print and outdoor ads. In the first stage of this signature roll-out, certain Flora, Omo and Rexona TVCs have started to air with Unilever’s distinctive “U” logo. Unilever’s other brands will begin... ...Read more »
The UK government has imposed a ban on the placement of foods, alcohol and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar on television programmes.The Government announced yesterday (9 February) that product placement will be allowed on UK television programmes in a bid to alleviate financial damage to the industry, but that there would be exceptions to the rules. The ban follows opposition from Cabinet ministers who lobbied against aspects of the government’s original proposals last September, indicating... ...Read more »
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted court enforceable undertakings from Austar Port Lincoln Pty Ltd trading as Austar Seafood Warehouse regarding misleading claims made about the source of some of its seafood.Austar published advertisements in the Port Lincoln Times between March and August 2009 which stated that its seafood was “100% Port Lincoln Product” and “local seafood”. Australian consumers often prefer to buy locally grown or made... ...Read more »
Asia-Pacific consumer brands will succeed in the recovering economic markets if lessons are learnt from the last two years, according to new research from independent business analyst Datamonitor. The study has revealed the difficulties brands face in capturing the attention of consumers, with 67% of Australians saying they simply don’t even notice new alcoholic drinks on the shelves. Datamonitor figures show manufacturers bombarded the FMCG market with over 1600 product innovations launched... ...Read more »