Food Marketing in Children’s Sport

We naturally associate sports participation with a healthy and active lifestyle. Sports clubs and associations have a responsibility to children to provide positive messages about nutrition and exercise. By allowing unhealthy food and drink sponsorship sports clubs and associations are giving out contradictory messages that encourage poor food choices and unhealthy eating behaviours.

Food and drink companies frequently use sport as a marketing medium and a way to target large numbers of children. Children play and watch sport at different levels including local clubs, state associations and national leagues. Australian children are not protected from unhealthy food sponsorship at any level.

Why do food and drink companies promote to children through sport?

Compared to the cost of television advertising, the promotion of food and drink to children through sports' sponsorship is relatively inexpensive.

Sports' sponsorship:

• increases children's familiarity with food and drink brands
• associates particular foods and drinks with an activity children enjoy and therefore generates a positive association
• builds customer relationships and creates long term loyalty
• targets children at a time in their life when they are more susceptible to the persuasive intent of marketing and advertising
• generates a favourable relationship with parents as well

What types of promotions are used to target children through sport?

Food and drink companies promote to children through sport in a variety of ways. Some food brands invest just a small sum of money marketing in this way, whilst others spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each year sponsoring big league sport at a national level.

Some of the ways companies market unhealthy food and drink to children through sport include:

• naming rights for teams and events
• signage at sports club on billboards
• logos on uniforms
• branded merchandise giveaways such as hats and water bottles
• food and drink samples and giveaways including discount vouchers
• free meals at fast food outlet
• promotional fliers for brand or specific products
• logos on printed materials such as welcome kit or club handbook
  
  

These promotions take place both at the sports children participate in and the sports children watch.

What are some alternatives?

There are many alternatives that sports clubs can consider approaching for sponsorship funds instead of companies that market unhealthy food and drinks to children. Examples include:

• sports retailers
• sports clothing and equipment manufacturers
• banks
• telecommunications companies
• travel companies

Do you have any other suggestions? Log in to the Discussion Forum and tell us your ideas.