Abstract

The caselet highlights the concerns of the US Government over the rising obesity levels among children due to excess consumption of ‘junk’ foods. It describes the various promotional methods followed by fast food and cola companies like McDonald’s, Kraft Foods Inc, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo, to promote their products to children. The caselet also describes the efforts made by different groups to counter this problem and the regulations passed by the US Government to curb such practices. Finally, the caselet covers the different measures taken by these companies to maintain their corporate image and at the same time influence the level of ‘junk’ food consumption among school children.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Impact of regulatory environment on marketing communications strategy
• Children as targets of ‘junk’ food advertising
• Self-regulation as a means to counter the proposed ban on ‘junk’ food advertising to children
• and Anti-obesity regulations in the US.

Keywords

Junk Foods, Anti-Obesity regulations, McDonald’s, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Sponsorship, Kool-Aid, American Association of Advertising Agencies, Fast Food, World Health Organization