To protect the children
Demand: Chips, pizza, gummy bears and the like should disappear from advertising
© happy_lark / Adobe Stock
Is Junk Food Going To Be Killed Now? In the meantime, 37 actors, together with the food organization “Foodwatch”, are demanding that advertising for unhealthy food only be broadcast at night. The federal government had taken on a similar task in the coalition agreement.
Be it the pizza ad, which wants to give you a cozy feeling of family when everyone is cuddling together on the couch after a stormy day, the funny sayings for gummy bears or sensual chocolate moments that flicker across the screen, they all have one thing in common: you advertise sweets and fast food.
Alliance calls for an advertising ban for unhealthy food
An alliance of nutrition and child protection organizations wants to curb advertising for unhealthy food in Germany. In an appeal, 38 actors demand that there is only space for advertising between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. But not only the advertising on television should be significantly restricted. In addition, they are calling for a “100-meter ban mile” for advertising posters around schools, daycare centers and playgrounds, as well as a ban on advertising by influencers on the Internet.
The basis of the demand is a broad alliance around star chef Jamie Oliver, which appeals to the traffic light coalition to protect children and young people from junk food advertising. Advertising “demonstrably influences the preferences and eating behavior” of young people, according to an open letter to the party leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP, which numerous medical specialist societies, research institutions, parents’ associations, consumer protection and children’s rights organizations as well as health insurance companies and nutritional organizations have signed. Advertising restrictions are an “important step in helping families teach children healthy eating,” the alliance said.
Children are influenced by advertisements for unhealthy foods
Kids are bombarded every day by the food industry with advertisements for “sugar bombs and greasy snacks,” Jamie Oliver said in a statement. The spots run between soccer games, talent shows and children’s programs, and the products are also promoted by popular influencers, the celebrity chef continues. For years, Jamie Oliver had been working with medical associations and parents’ organizations in Great Britain for a comprehensive advertising ban, which is to be implemented from 2024. Advertisements for unhealthy things should be completely banned on the Internet and TV should only be allowed to be broadcast at night.
In order to define what exactly unhealthy foods are, the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) should prevail. According to Foodwatch, around 15 percent of children and adolescents are overweight and six percent are severely overweight (obesity). The situation has worsened during the pandemic. The problem: Children and young people often eat too many sweets and not enough fruit and vegetables.
Similar demands are already anchored in the coalition agreement
In the coalition agreement between the Ampel parties, it was already agreed that advertising for unhealthy products aimed at children should be restricted. “Advertising aimed at children for food with a high sugar, fat and salt content must no longer exist in programs and formats for under 14-year-olds in the future,” it says on page 36. There is currently no concrete draft law .
Sources used: tagesschau.de, adipositas-gesellschaft.de, coalition agreement on bundesregierung.de, instagram.com