Television Food Research Articles

Features of the implementation of speech strategies and tactics in the slogan of television food advertising

The article is devoted to the study of speech strategies and tactics in the slogan of television food advertising. The slogan as an element of the advertising text plays a significant role in influencing the consciousness and behavior of the addressee. Slogans implement various speech strategies and tactics to ensure the success of advertising communication. The difficulty of studying this phenomenon lies in a short formulation with great strategic potential and its uncertain relationship with the main text of television advertising. The relevance of this study is related to the importance of the slogan in the advertising text and the prospects for studying speech strategies and tactics in the slogan of television food advertising. The article aims to identify the features of speech strategies and tactics in the slogan of television food advertising. The method of linguistic and pragmatic analysis was used in the work, which makes it possible to identify speech strategies and tactics in the slogan of television advertising of food products and describe the linguistic features of their implementation. The novelty of the research lies in a comprehensive examination of speech strategies and tactics in the slogan, taking into account the main advertising text. As a result of the analysis, corporate slogan, product slogan and festive slogan were highlighted in television advertising. The slogans of television food advertising highlight presentation strategy, convincing strategy, persuading strategy and reminiscent strategy, as well as tactics and techniques within the framework of relevant strategies. The linguistic means of verbalization of techniques used within the framework of appropriate speech strategies and tactics in television advertising of food are described. The correlation of their implementation with the main advertising text has been established. The slogan of a TV advertisement usually implements several strategies and tactics at the same time. The implementation of the convincing strategy in a product slogan is relevant to the main advertising text. The implementation of other strategies in the slogan is not related to the main advertising text.

Exposure and power of TV food advertising during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: a content analysis

BackgroundWith the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the Brazilian population has increased the time spent at home and watching television (TV). Since food advertising exposure is a key driver of food choices, this study described the content of food advertisements (ads) on Brazilian TV during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis is an exploratory study. A total of 684 h of TV programming comprised of three free-to-air channels and two pay-per-view channels was recorded from 06 a.m. to 12 a.m. for eight non-consecutive days in June 2020. A content analysis of all the food-related ads was carried out. The data collection process followed INFORMAS Protocol for TV food advertising monitoring.ResultsThe sample was composed of 7,083 ads, 752 (10.6%) of which were food-related and 487 (6.9%) were promoting ultra-processed foods. The content analysis indicated seven thematic categories, all of them with reference to the COVID-19 pandemic: brand and product differentials (79.8%); visual and sound effects (70.2%); thematic campaigns (56.0%); digitization (22.9%); convenience (16.5%); economic benefits (11.9%); and commensality and social interaction (6.1%). Ads content varied according to the day of the week, the time of the day, the length of the ad, and the channel type.ConclusionsThe thematic of food advertising on Brazilian TV during the COVID-19 pandemic is aligned with the country’s health crisis context and varied during the programming.

Maternal Perception and Attitude towards Television Food Advertisements Targeting Children: A Cross-sectional Questionnaire Study from Pune, India

Introduction: Television food advertisements targeting children are recognised as a significant health risk, influencing their dietary choices and contributing to the increasing prevalence of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) among children in Low and Middle-income Countries (LMICs). Understanding maternal perceptions and attitudes towards these advertisements is crucial for designing effective public health interventions. Aim: To evaluate maternal perceptions and attitudes toward television food advertisements targeting children, specifically among mothers of children aged 4-11 years. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Dr. D. Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra, India, from My 2023 to November 2023. A total of 332 mothers of children aged 4-11 years were divided into two groups: Group 1 (mothers of children aged 4-7 years) with 159 participants, and group 2 (mothers of children aged 8-11 years) with 173 participants. A prevalidated, closed-ended questionnaire consisting of 24 questions was administered to the mothers. The reliability of the questionnaire was ensured through the preliminary exploratory study and expert reviews, achieving a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.84. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests to compare perceptions of mothers in both groups. Results: The study received 332 responses from mothers with children aged 4-11 years. Significant differences between the two age groups were observed. In group 1, 64 (52%) mothers mothers agreed, while 41 (57.7%) mothers in group 2 strongly agreed that their children show a keen interest in watching food advertisements. Additionally, 80 (55.9%) mothers in group 1 agreed, while 39 (44.8%) mothers in group 2 strongly agreed that their children do not understand the persuasive intent of food advertisements, with statistical significance (p-value=0.001). Most mothers, 75 (52.4%) in group 1 and 68 (47.6%) in group 2, agreed that reducing exposure to food advertisements would improve children’s eating behaviour (p-value=0.01). Moreover, 61 (64.9%) mothers in group 1 strongly agreed, and 77 (58.3%) mothers in group 2 agreed that seeing advertisements persuaded children to want unhealthy foods, highlighting significant differences between the age groups (p-value=0.004). Conclusion: Mothers recognise the negative impact of TV food advertisements on their children’s eating habits, particularly noting the use of cartoons and celebrities to promote unhealthy snacks and low-nutrition food that their children struggle to understand. The present study emphasises the urgent need for regulatory measures to protect young viewers and promote healthier dietary choices across different age groups.

Baked In: Cooking and Cannabis in Viceland

abstract: This article examines Viceland's rise and fall through its pot-friendly food programming. Vice's wielding of cooking and cannabis as ideal expressions of its masculine, countercultural brand is analyzed here through intersecting histories of the evolving cultural status of cannabis, food television's generic conventions, and Vice Media's own problematic corporate history. This situated reading demonstrates how TV can weave emerging politics into the fabric of popular culture precisely through its most procedurally familiar forms. Yet Viceland's history and contrived TV environment also produce a generative ambiguity that complicates the programs' political engagement.

The travelogue cooking show in a sub-state nation: Representing Scotland in British food television

Food television offers a new and unique lens on national identity, the Anglo-Scottish relationship, and their cultural representation in contemporary Britain. This article is based on the analysis of three British travelogue cooking shows, first broadcast between 1995 and 2011, about Scotland and its food. The programmes analysed exemplify and reinforce long-standing cultural constructions of the relationship between England and Scotland as sub-state nations of the United Kingdom, as well as illustrating and creating new national scripts, notably in relation to class and gender. These ‘homeland’ travelogue cooking shows consistently associate Scotland with a defined set of local and traditional foods, closely associated with a Romantic construction of Scotland, its history and landscape. However, the programmes also indicate wider changes in British and Scottish food culture during this period, including the rise of the local food movement and the increasing economic success and cultural confidence of the Scottish food and drink industry. The article highlights the role of celebrity chefs in the cultural construction of contemporary British sub-state national relationships.

Food for thought or food for emotions? An analysis of marketing strategies in television food advertising seen by children in Colombia.

To establish the relationship between the marketing strategies and nutritional quality of foods and beverages promoted in television food advertisements (TV ads) seen by Colombian child audiences overall and based on child gender and socio-economic strata (SES). A quantitative content analysis of marketing appeals was combined with nutritional data of the food products advertised and matched with TV audience ratings data for each food and beverage ads for Colombian children between 4 and 11 years. All beverages and foods TV ads cable or over-the-air channels in Colombia in 2017. N/A. Compared with rational appeals (e.g. freshness, health or nutrition messages), emotional appeals (referencing or depicting human senses or emotions, e.g. using cartoons to suggest fun) were more frequently used in the TV ads most viewed by Colombian children. Female children and children in lower SES tended to be more exposed to emotional appeals in TV ads than their male or higher SES counterparts. Furthermore, TV ads using more emotional appeals tended to be for products high in problematic nutrients. The findings of this study highlight the need to implement statutory measures to reduce the deleterious effect of food marketing on children.

Television food ads aimed at children in South-Eastern Europe: Cultural outlook and implications

South-East Europe (SEE) has the highest obesity rates and the most substantial consumption of television programs among young people compared to other parts of the continent. However, studies on this subject are notably absent from the existing body of literature. This research investigates differences in ad recall and preferences related to the healthiness of featured products and the alignment of advertising settings with specific cultural dimensions of SEE's ethos. The study utilizes two multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks: the social cognitive theory and the two-dimensional Minkov-Hofstede model of culture, and it employs a mixed-methods approach. Results from a survey conducted with children and a content analysis of TV ads from the region reveal that commercials promoting low-nutrition foods are more persuasive than those featuring healthy products. Consistent with the collectivist nature of SEE's culture, ads using group settings are predominantly recalled. Contrarily, in opposition to prior knowledge, the use of monumentalistic (vs. flexibility) attributes in commercials does not enhance the memory retrieval of ads. Children's ad preferences are significantly influenced by their self-concept. The implications of these findings for various stakeholders are discussed.

The extent and nature of television food and non-alcoholic beverage advertising to children during chinese New Year in Beijing, China

BackgroundExposure to food and non-alcoholic beverage advertisements (F&B ads) on television, which can affect children’s nutrition knowledge, food consumption, diet quality, and purchasing preferences, is one aspect of the obesogenic environment. This aspect has been well-studied and assessed in many countries. In China, however, only few studies have been done in earlier years and all of them were focus on regular days. This study aimed to assess the extent and nature of F&B ads on television (TV) during the public holiday directed towards children aged 4–14 years in Beijing.MethodTop 3 channels viewed by children aged 4–14 years in Beijing were selected by TV viewership data, survey, and expert consultation. Each channel was recorded for 7 days (24 h) during the public holiday of the Chinese New Year in 2019. F&B ads were coded and analyzed following the adapted food promotion module of INFORMAS protocol. Three nutrient profile models were used to classify F&B ads as healthy or unhealthy F&B ads.ResultsOf the 10,082 ads in 504-hour recorded programs, 42.9% were F&B ads. The hourly average ads and F&B ads per channel were 19.8 (SD 15.32) and 8.6 (SD 9.84), while that was higher on the national children’s channel (17.15, SD 12.25) than other channels (p < 0.05). Of F&B ads classified with the three nutrient profile models, more than 55% were unhealthy for children. The categories most frequently advertised were savory snacks, milk drinks, nonpermitted milk drinks, cakes/sweet biscuits, and beverages. Unhealthy F&B ads were more likely to use promotional characters, brand benefit claims, and health claims than permitted F&B ads (p < 0.05).ConclusionsChildren in Beijing were exposed to a high proportion of unhealthy F&B ads during the Chinese New Year holiday. Our findings support the need to assess and regulate TV F&B ads marketing for children.

Indian Food Television: Tracing the Transformation of Hindi and English Food Shows (2010–2018)

This article traces the journey of Indian food media, particularly Hindi- and English-language television shows, from 2010 to 2018. The tendency of food television to uphold an upper- and upper-middle-class lifestyle points to a politics of appropriation of class. The transformation after 2010 is marked by changes in the space, the products endorsed, and the brands sponsoring the shows, while the aesthetics of the audiovisual medium indicate an inclination to enable a politics of consumerism and to posit a linear narrative on Indian cuisine that minimizes difference.

Review:The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard, by John Birdsall

Review:<i>The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard</i>, by John Birdsall

Abusive advertising of food and drink products on Brazilian television.

In Brazil, any advertising strategies that take advantage of the child’s judgment or induce consumers to make harmful health choices are considered abusive. However, the efficacy of restrictions on their use on television (TV) food advertising remains poorly understood. This study analysed the extent and nature of abusive techniques according to national regulations and patterns in their use in food-related ads. Cross-sectional studyrecorded the programming of the three most popular TV channels (6 am–12 am), during eight non-consecutive days, in April 2018. Data collection was based on the INFORMAS protocol and two national regulations. Descriptive analyses were used to describe the types of food ads and abusive techniques used in ultra-processed products (UPP) ads. Principal component analysis was applied to identify patterns of abusive marketing techniques and to relate them to specific food groups. More than 90% of food ads included at least one UPP. Overall, 10.1% of UPP ads targeted children and 57.7% used some kind of abusive technique directed to children and adolescents. Most ads contained messages inducing harmful health choices did not present adequate and clear information about the product and contained more than one type of abusive technique. Four out of five patterns in the use of abusive techniques in UPP ads were specifically directed to children, and fast-food meals were associated with three out of five patterns. The high abusiveness of food advertising in UPP ads should be considered a public health concern given their impact on children’s food choices and health.

The American Barbecue Showdown (2020)

In the original Netflix competition reality TV series The American Barbecue Showdown, “eight of the country's best backyard smokers and pit masters vie for the title of American Barbecue Champion in a fierce but friendly face off.” A voiceover during the introductory episode proclaims that barbecue in America is “all about history and personal style.” That may be so, but this food competition show is light on the history of the foundations of cooking with smoke and fire. Netflix's entry in the judged cooking competition pantheon does have its enjoyable elements—especially for carnivorous barbecue enthusiasts—and showcases some serious talent, but it ultimately serves up a menu of meat-centric entrees with limited historical and cultural context, thus replicating tired culinary gender tropes and conforming to the majority of reality food television programming. Showdown continues the early twenty-first-century tradition of the “sportification” of cooking seen across streaming and cable platforms with series like Tailgate Warriors, Top Chef, and Chopped. These shows present timed, judged individual and team competitions that infuse a sense of drama and spectacle into mediated cooking culture. Showdown sprinkles in a dash of public barbecue history to this formula, thus making it of potential interest to JSH readers.The series opens with the promise that “eight of the boldest smokers in America are here to throw down the best barbecue of their lives.” The contestants are tasked with challenges such as creating animal-protein-laden combo plates, constructing towering smoked-meat sandwiches, puzzling out how to cook unfamiliar wild game, and devising complementary side dishes for scrutiny by two judges over the course of eight episodes of timed competitions. At the end of each episode, one barbecue chef is crowned “Star Pitmaster,” while the one who served the least appetizing dishes is “smoked out” of the competition.The talent starts with the judges, two award-winning, renowned pit masters: Kevin Bludso and Melissa Cookston. The eight title challengers range from barbecue champions to novice competitors, with the majority hailing from the American South or Midwest. Two largely superfluous hosts round out the cast of characters. Unlike many cooking-themed reality television series, the cast of American Barbecue Showdown is a fairly diverse one, with three women and four Black American members among the contestants. The episodes were all filmed in an event space in rural Georgia that features a cavernous barn outfitted with professional kitchens, full pantries, and a well-stocked meat locker. State-of-the-art grilling and smoking equipment and supplies are set up in the area outside the barn. Showdown hews closely to the formula of successful cooking competition shows like Tailgate Warriors and The Great British Bake-Off; Bludso and Cookston visit contestants to inquire about techniques and cooking choices as the competitors prepare their menus, the cooks reflect on their ingredients and share personal stories in individual interviews, and the judges and hosts offer a running commentary on the action in the lead-up to tasting the final dishes.As in the Food Network's Tailgate Warriors, when the judges speak with contestants, meat is at the center of the discussion. The judges are primarily concerned with what protein the cook is going to showcase for a particular challenge, whether he or she will have enough time to prepare the meat to the judges’ satisfaction, and if the contestant is maintaining hot enough grills and running clean or dirty smoke. Comparatively little consideration is given to vegetarian sides or desserts. In one exchange during episode two, the hosts and judges remark on one challenger's decision to serve a simple garden salad, with Cookston declaring, “Well, let me tell you, it better be the best damn garden salad I've ever had. It better come out of forty-two gardens. . . . I'm worried.” Indeed, the catch phrase the hosts employ to signal that cooking time is up is “Show me the meat!”The “Cooking It Old School” episode begins with an acknowledgment that barbecue has a deep and complicated history, then whitewashes that history into two eras: precolonization and antebellum. The precolonization time period is marked simply by Indigenous cooking methods, while the antebellum era is euphemistically described by Bludso as the time when “our ancestors cooked farm animals over oven pits.” The broader cultural context and the effects of colonization and enslavement on cooking practices during those decades of U.S. history go unremarked upon. Historical awareness in Showdown is perhaps best summed up by Cookston when she declares, “If you're a true barbecuer, you love being in the fire, in the smoke. We have always paid homage to that primal instinct of cooking meat with fire.”

Jaehyeon Jeong (2020). Korean Food Television and the Korean Nation, Lexington Books

Jaehyeon Jeong (2020). Korean Food Television and the Korean Nation, Lexington Books

Eating (with) the Other

This article aims to describe and theorize the role of food television in cultivating popular understandings of the relationship between food and race. Although there is burgeoning research on representations of food and identity, scholars have devoted much less attention to representations of race in food-related television programming. This article highlights the necessity of doing so through a comparative examination of shows that aim to expose viewers to racial and ethnic communities through their foodways. We ask to what extent these shows deliver contact across racial difference in hierarchical and egalitarian ways. We found that these shows convey manifestations of “eating with the Other” by providing viewers with a warm and respectful entrée into the everyday realities of racial, ethnic, and immigrant communities. Simultaneously, the shows embody bell hooks’s notion of “eating the Other,” as they commodify the experiences of marginalized communities for the vicarious pleasures of their viewers, and gloss over larger social, political, and economic inequalities. This article offers insights into the ways in which contemporary food television is dealing with issues of ethno-racial differences and inequalities, and discusses the potential of this medium to act as a form of critical intervention.

Children's measured exposure to food and beverage advertising on television in a regulated environment, May 2011-2019.

To quantify food/beverage advertising on television in Montreal (Quebec), to estimate and characterise children's exposure and to examine trends over time. Television food advertising data were licensed for nineteen food categories and eighteen stations for May 2011, 2016 and 2019. The frequency of advertisements and the average number viewed per child aged 2-11 years overall, by food category and by station type (i.e. youth-appealing (n 3) and generalist (n 15) stations) were determined. The percent change in advertising frequency and exposure between May 2011 and 2019 was calculated. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This study used media data and did not directly involve human participants. The total number of television advertisements increased by 11 % between May 2011 (n 41084) and May 2019 (n 45406); however, exposure to food/beverage advertisements decreased by 53 %, going from 226 ads/child in May 2011 to 107 ads/child in May 2019. Overall, the most advertised food categories in both May 2011 and 2019 were fast food (29·8 % and 39·2 %, respectively) followed by chocolate (14·2 %) in 2011 and savory snacks (9·7 %) in 2019. In May 2019, children were predominantly exposed to unhealthy food categories such as fast food (41·3 % of exposure), savory snacks (7·5 %), chocolate (5·0 %) and regular soft drinks (4·5 %), and most (89·3 %) of their total exposure occurred on generalist television stations. Despite Quebec's restrictions on commercial advertising directed to children under 13 years, Quebecois children are still frequently exposed to unhealthy food advertising on television. Government should tighten restrictions to protect children from this exposure.

Climate and culture in The Pioneer Woman

The kitchen is one of the sites in which midlife women whose bodies do not conform to post-feminist standards of attractiveness attain visibility. In the case of multimedia food personality Ree Drummond, her renown was initially secured by the proficient imaging of her food preparation, her children and her way of life on a remote Oklahoma ranch, first via social media and subsequently expanding onto television via the Food Network. Following on from the success of Drummond’s blog, The Pioneer Woman series came to television in 2011, showcasing her in the kitchen and on the ranch where she lives with her husband and four children. Alyxandra Vesey has observed that, ‘Since The French Chef's debut in 1963, food television has used the kitchen to negotiate the parameters of contemporary female celebrity’,1 and food television outlets have tended to consolidate the established celebrity of female chefs, cooks and business owners....

Exposure of Children to Unhealthy Food and Beverage Advertisements in South Africa.

Television (TV) is a powerful medium for marketing food and beverages. Food and beverage marketers tend to use this medium to target children with the hope that children will in turn influence their families’ food choices. No study has assessed the compliance of TV marketers with the South African Marketing to Children pledge since the enactment of the 2014 food advertising recommendations by the South African Department of Health and the Advertising Standards Authority. This study investigated the extent and nature of advertising of unhealthy versus healthy food and beverages to children in South African TV broadcasting channels. The date, time, type, frequency and target audience of food advertisements (ads) on four free-to-air South African TV channels were recorded and captured using a structured assessment guide. The presence of persuasive marketing techniques was also assessed. Unhealthy food and beverage advertising was recorded at a significantly higher rate compared with healthy food and beverages during the time frame when children were likely to be watching TV. Brand benefit claims, health claims and power strategies (e.g., advertising using cartoon characters and celebrated individuals) were used as persuasive strategies. These persuasive strategies were used more in unhealthy versus healthy food ads. The findings are in breach of the South African Marketing to Children pledge and suggest a failure of the industry self-regulation system. We recommend the introduction of monitored and enforced statutory regulations to ensure healthy TV food advertising space.

Exposure of children to television food advertisements: an observational analysis

Television advertisements are a powerful medium by which food companies can influence children's dietary choices. This study aimed to determine the current frequency and nutritional content of food and drink advertisements on popular television channels and ascertain whether this differed depending on the target age-group. In this study, television channels were classified by their stated target age-groups. A total of 96 hours of the most popular television channels from each age category were watched during children's peak viewing times, and food and drink advertisements were nutritionally analysed. Overall, 9.5% of advertisements observed were for food and drink. More food and drink advertisements (P&lt;0.001) and those promoting high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) products (P&lt;0.001) were broadcast on channels aimed towards older children. There is an ongoing exposure of children to HFSS products via both adult- and child-targeted television channels. Further efforts are required to limit this.

Impact of Television Food Advertisements on Pester Power: Parent’s Perspective on Children’s Behavior

Impact of Television Food Advertisements on Pester Power: Parent’s Perspective on Children’s Behavior

Effect of health-promoting messages in television food commercials on adolescents’ attitudes and consumption: A randomized intervention study

IntroductionThe HAVISA plan is a Spanish government's policy for the promotion of healthy lifestyles via health messages in television food advertisements. This study evaluated the positive or negative impact (health halo effect) of health messages on food choices and predisposition towards healthy habits of Spanish adolescents. MethodsRandomized controlled study in 11–14 years old adolescents. The intervention group watched television advertisements for unhealthy foods with HAVISA health messages, while the control group watched the same advertisements without them. A self-administered questionnaire measured participants’ attitudes towards the products advertised, to diet and physical activity, and recognition of messages. Afterwards they chose between fruit and unhealthy snacks. The differences between the two groups were then compared. ResultsA total of 27.2% of the control group versus 29.6% of the intervention group chose fruit (p = 0.54). Both groups displayed high desire for (7.24 vs. 7.40, p = 0.29) and intention to consume (6.67 vs. 6.73, p = 0.63) the unhealthy products advertised. There were no differences in perceived healthiness of these foods (4.11 vs. 4.19, p = 0.74), or perceived importance of a healthy diet (3.17 vs. 3.12, p = 0.55) or physical activity (4.53 vs. 4.51, p = 0.73). Desire for vegetables (2.49 vs. 2.66, p = 0.08) and fruit (3.15 vs. 3.30, p = 0.09) were higher in the intervention group, but the differences were not significant. Only 47.6% of participants noticed the presence of health messages; of these, 31% correctly recalled their content. ConclusionHAVISA health messages changed neither the attitudes nor immediate eating behaviors of adolescents. There was no immediate healthy-lifestyle promoter or adverse health halo effect, probably due to the messages’ low prominence. Further research should evaluate the long-term effect of repeated exposure to health messages.