Ads for Sugary Drinks Target Kids, Study Says

A new study is attacking the advertising tactics of the makers of sugary drinks. Their complaint? These companies target kids through strategic product placement, reward marketing, and cause-related marketing as well as on TV ads, the Internet and Facebook.

The study is complaining about such products as soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit drinks, and energy drinks.

To come to these conclusions, the researchers looked at the way 14 companies marketed nearly 600 products. Most of what they found was not surprising, in my opinion. After all, the makers of sugary drinks, like sodas, have long marketed to children.

But what did surprise me, as it did the researchers, was that most of these manufactures claim health benefits of their products on the packaging. For instance, claims of “natural ingredients” or “real ingredients,” persuade even parents that these drinks are healthy.

In addition, many fruit drinks and energy drinks contain as much sugar as full calorie soda. Yet these companies lead children and parents to believe that these are healthy alternatives to sugary sodas.

The study was conducted by researchers at the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.

What do you think of the results of this study? Will you now limit sodas, fruit drinks, and energy drinks from your children’s diet?