3 - Advertising Ethics

 

Are companies Going “Green” & making Healthier choices, or is it all just Marketing tricks? 

Deceptive health advertising is a significant issue in marketing in our society today. Us consumers want to be healthier, so companies often use terms like “natural” or “organic” to make their products appear healthier and more appealing to buyers. As a consequence we may not be choosing the best products and will need to look past the misleading health claims and green labels to make informed decisions about the products we use/consume. 

We are not totally clueless about what choices we should make when it comes to health products and foods. Especially since the pandemic most of us are more aware that processed foods are not healthy and that we should also monitor our diet to improve our health and wellbeing. However, when it comes time to apply our knowledge at the grocery store the labels confuse us instead of making it easier to understand what the best choices are. According to a 2020 study by Public Health Nutrition, nearly half of the adults who participated mistook less healthy options as ‘better’ ones due to misleading product labels. 

I think Advertising Ethics are questionable when companies choose labels that follow current trends, instead of honestly portraying their products. 

Some of the many health trends we have seen in recent years include: 

-Gut Health

-Heart Healthy
-Gluten-Free

-Plant-based

-Ketogenic 

-Paleo

-Low-Carb

-"Clean"

-Adaptogens 

-Probiotic and Prebiotics 

Companies know we are following these trends so they market their products to fit the market's need for healthy choices, without (I fear) actually making their products healthier. 

As a Consumer Watch Out for: 

- Pseudoscience: Companies use pseudo-scientific language to make their products sound more legitimate or scientifically more sound than they actually are. Timothy Caulfield, a research chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta. Mr. Caulfield coined the term “scienceploitation” to describe how brands borrow language from emerging areas of science to market unproven products. [NYtimes]

-Vague Terms: like 'boosts' 'promotes' 'stimulates' etc. these terms are very general and unless they can be quantified it's hard to trust such claims. 

-Misleading Imagery: Companies may make their product "look healthier" using symbols or imagery of fruits and vegetables or using the color green because they know that healthy shoppers are gravitating to those images. 

-Buzzwords: The use of trendy phrases realated to health and wellness can create a perception of healthfulness without actually offering any health benefits. 

It is advised to always read the label and not purchase solely on aesthetic, but if you don't know what you are looking for reading the nutrition label can be confusing! 

Here are some of the challenges of understanding food labels:

-The Number of Ingredients: a lot of today’s food is ultra-processed with a long list of ingredients, this makes it hard for us to discern what exactly are we eating. We may encounter this issue especially with foods labeled “plant based”, which is so confusing because plant based sounds healthier but may not actually be. 

-Confusing Names: Some ingredients such as high sugar sweeteners may be listed under under other names such as “carob syrup”, “agave nectar”, or “barley malt” to disguise the actual ingredient and fool consumers into thinking this is a healthy choice.

-Problematic Nutrient Labelling: Nutrients are listed on packaging in a way to make quick decisions, however it can also cause confusion, by listing nutrients in grams per serving and the percentage of daily intake instead of for the particular serving. 

‘Expiration dates on food can also be misleading,’ he adds, ‘leading to unnecessary food waste, especially when consumers can often rely on their senses to determine food edibility.’ - Nutritionist Rob Henson 

Women's Health Magazine

Here are a few tips from the the Federal Trade Commission about how to be an educated consumer: 

- Do Your Research: use the power of the internet, search the product along with reviews online of what other consumers have said about the product. 

"You can also check to see what respected professional associations and major public health organizations like the National Institutes of Health or C.D.C. say about a specific product, protocol or ingredient, experts advise." [NYtimes]

-Be Realistic: Understand that if a product is making outrageous health claims and seems too good to be true it probably is!