Hit Me(n)

Abstract

Abstract In the Global South, the adoption of the so-called Western diet in recent decades has resulted in a global pandemic of obesity and lifestyle-related diseases. However some academics argue that this diet should be reframed as the ‘neoliberal’ diet, one which is the outcome of a profit-driven industrial food system in which large multi-national corporations have disproportionate power to make, distribute, promote, and sell their products. Instead of framing lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases (NCD s) as the personal failure of the individual, this lens calls for a critique of a food system which shapes individual food and lifestyle choices. Yet social attitudes remain slow to respond to this shifting view of this pressing food-related NCD public health issue. Sugar is a key part of the formulation of many ultra-processed foods that are responsible for poor diet-related health outcomes. Hit Me(n) uses protest art as a communications tool to reframe the issue for the audience. It draws attention to the dopamine system in the brain by juxtaposing sugar alongside other addictive substances and behaviours that drive similar pleasure-seeking patterns. It further draws attention to the role that corporate and product branding plays in normalising and glorifying certain addiction-linked substances and behaviours. It questions who has the power to shape the system, and who does not.