During entertainment programming on cable TV, the advertising of food, produce, and dairy prevail above other advertising categories such as entertainment, automotive sector, insurance, and pharmaceuticals. As obesity continues to be a pressing public health concern in the U.S., advocates against unhealthy eating link this growing risk with increased food advertisements directed at children. Ads for fast food restaurants are by far the most viewed food/beverage advertisement by children in the United States.
In the third quarter of 2017, Burger King accounted for the highest number of ad occurrences among the leading food related brands on TV in the U.S. Adverts for the fast food chain ran over 26 thousand times on American television in that year and was closely followed by Domino’s Pizza and Little Caesar’s, each with over 24 thousand TV ad occurrences. MacDonald’s is the leading restaurant in terms of advertising spending in the U.S. followed by Subway and Taco Bell, and is also the fourth most advertised brand in the country. Apart from TV, radio, or magazine ads, internet games, promotional packaging, giveaways, and corporate sponsorships and donations to schools are also some of the common avenues for food advertising in the U.S. predominantly targeting kids and adolescents.
In 2016, Nestle, one of the most valuable food brands worldwide, shelled out around 2.75 billion dollars on advertising spending in the United States alone. Coca-Cola, the most valuable soft drink brand worldwide is also the highest spending advertiser among beverage brands in the United States, closely followed by Pepsi, Gatorade, and Dr. Pepper. The parent company’s advertising expenditure on Coke stood at around 355 million U.S. dollars. Food advertising is largely self-regulated in the U.S., although the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) playing a limited regulatory role.
