| Banning Advertising |
 |
 |
| Written by Tim Worstall | |
| Sunday, 14 January 2007 | |
|
The Telegraph
runs an interesting and comprehensive report on the effects the banning
of advertising junk food to children will have. TV company profits
down, very little change in junk food consumption and a reduction in
innovation in the sector. As is said, why design a new product if you
can't tell anyone about it? Reactions to this will rather depend upon an individual's view of advertising. Is it all manipulation, persuasion, or is it simply information? That different ads (even the same ones at different times) can be either or both is often missed. There's also something quite delightfully British about the actual bureaucratic decision itself. Because the measurements of salt, sugar and so on are made using a 100 gramme sample (around 3 oz in real money) such products as raisins, Marmite, and olive oil are also banned. The Man in Whitehall can't even do censorship properly. But the article also asks what the effect of the ban will be on the food manufacturer's profits. I think it might actually be positive, as the ban in the US on tobacco advertising was to the cigarette companies. Much of such advertising is not so much "Try a burger" type, but of the "try our burger, not our competitor's" type. The more of this there is (or was) then the more the ban will increase proftis across the sector rather than diminish them. It rather sets in stone the current market shares, those shares that the companies currently spend so much to defend. I think we really should all thank our lucky stars that we are governed so that we have just a little censorship here and there, increasing the food company profits, in the name of protecting the little children. Which, by the way, it will do very little of: One FSA study estimates that advertising has a 2 per cent influence on people's food choices..
Bookmark
Comments (0)
 Write comment
This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
About the ASI
The Adam Smith Institute is the UK's leading innovator of free-market economic and social policies. Politically independent and non-profit, the Institute promotes its ideas through reports, briefings, events, media appearances, and its website and blog. For further information, click here.Join our email list
Keep up-to-date with the latest events, reports and information from the Adam Smith Institute by joining our fortnightly email list. It's free and you can unsubscribe at any point. Just enter your email address here:
