Super Size Me: Accounting for Television Advertising in the Public Discourse on Obesity

Abstract

For some time, advertising has been the object of much public debate about eating disorders, such as concerns about its role in fostering body image. More recently, attention has turned towards the degree to which advertising is implicated in what has become a bona fide public health issue in the developed countries, namely obesity — especially amongst children. This is both a local issue, in that it has mobilised concerned parents’ groups in the community, and a global one, in that it raises questions about fast food practices and the commercialisation of food in general within global culture. While corporations have pursued ever more intricate ways to penetrate their target markets, they also have had to respond concretely to public concerns. This paper outlines the dimensions of the debate about the social and cultural impacts attributed to advertising in the public discourse about obesity, identifying the various positions, and seeks to assess the mode and degree to which advertising plausibly can be held responsible.