Mapping the Celebrity Endorsement of Branded Food and Beverage Products and Marketing Campaigns in the United States, 1990-2017.

Mi Zhou,Vivica Kraak,Valisa Hedrick,Srijith Rajamohan,Sofia Rincón-Gallardo Patiño,Nicholas Polys,Faiz Abidi

doi:10.3390/ijerph16193743

Abstract

Celebrity endorsement used to promote energy-dense and nutrient-poor (EDNP) food and beverage products may contribute to poor dietary habits. This study examined celebrity endorsement of branded food and beverage products and marketing campaigns in the United States (US) from 1990 to 2017. Celebrity endorsement data were collected from peer-reviewed and grey literature. Interactive data visualizations were created for the endorsement relationships between celebrities, companies and products whose nutritional profiles were compared with the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Smart Snacks Standards. Logistic regression was used to explore associations between celebrities’ demographic profiles and the nutritional profiles of products. Results showed 542 celebrities were associated with 732 endorsements representing 120 brands of 59 companies across 10 food and beverage categories. Two thirds (67.2%; n = 80) of the brands represented EDNP products that did not align with the USDA’s Smart Snacks Standards. Logistic regression analysis indicated that Millennial (p = 0.008) and male celebrities (p = 0.041) were more likely to endorse EDNP products than Generation Z teen and female celebrities, respectively. No statistical significance was observed for celebrities of other demographic profiles. This study may inform future policies and actions of the US government, industry, researchers and consumer advocacy organizations to use celebrity endorsement to promote healthy food environments for Americans.

Highlights

Overweight and obesity are public health threats in the United States (US) that affect more than two-thirds (70.2%) of adults, aged 20 years and older, and nearly one-third (32.4%) of children and adolescents, aged 2–19 years [1,2]
The marketing of energy-dense and nutrient-poor (EDNP) food and beverage products by food, beverage and restaurant companies has resulted in excessive intake of EDNP products including sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), candy, and quick service restaurant (QSR) meals that have contributed to poor diet quality and rising obesity rates among Americans [3,4,5,6,7,8]
For RQ2, we hypothesized that celebrities were more likely to endorse EDNP food and beverage products that do not align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA’s) Smart Snacks Standards than products that align with these healthy dietary guidelines

Summary

Introduction

Overweight and obesity are public health threats in the United States (US) that affect more than two-thirds (70.2%) of adults, aged 20 years and older, and nearly one-third (32.4%) of children and adolescents, aged 2–19 years [1,2]. The marketing of energy-dense and nutrient-poor (EDNP) food and beverage products by food, beverage and restaurant companies has resulted in excessive intake of EDNP products including sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), candy, and quick service restaurant (QSR) meals that have contributed to poor diet quality and rising obesity rates among Americans [3,4,5,6,7,8]. Most Americans do not consume a high quality and diverse diet aligned with the DGA measured by the United States Department of Agriculture’s. Public Health 2019, 16, 3743; doi:10.3390/ijerph16193743 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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