Targeted Food Marketing to Black and Hispanic Consumers: The Tobacco Playbook

Many US food companies have identified Black and Hispanic consumers as a significant business growth opportunity. In 2017, these companies spent more than $1 billion to advertise on Spanish language–targeted and Black-targeted television, more than 80% promoting fast food, sugar-sweetened beverages, candy, and unhealthy snack brands. Black children and adolescents saw approximately twice as many television food advertisements compared with their White peers, and these disparities have increased. Unhealthy food marketing and access to unhealthy food are also greater in low-income communities of color. Furthermore, these same unhealthy food brands often target advertising and sponsorships to “multicultural” youths through celebrity endorsements, music and sporting event sponsorships, scholarships, and other corporate social responsibility initiatives. Targeted marketing is not problematic on its own. Marketing to racial/ethnic minority consumers recognizes the importance of populations previously excluded by most traditional marketers. By signaling that a brand values Black andHispanic consumers and that its products are for “someone like me,” targeted marketing is highly effective. This marketing also often provides much-needed resources to local communities and targeted media properties. However, this onslaught of unhealthy food marketing represents an overwhelming obstacle to successful public health efforts to address the epidemic of diet-related disease, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, disproportionately affecting communities of color. As Nguyen et al. (p. 329) clearly show in this issue of AJPH, targeting food marketing to racial/ethnic minority consumers represents a deliberate strategy designed to foster goodwill in their communities. This strategy borrows heavily from the tobacco marketing playbook and raises ethical and public health concerns.