To ban or not to ban? That seems to be the topic these days since Health Minister Chua proposed that fast food ads should be banned because it's bad for the people's health. Well, while I am not against it, the proposal seems to somewhat miss the bigger picture.
People are responding that the food served at hawkers, mamaks and the like are worse in terms nutritional value, hygiene and cleanliness compared to fast food chains. So, what will be the real impact of the ban? To be honest, I think the cumulative value of these mamaks/hawker business is even bigger than those of the fast food chains.
Initially, I thought may we could impose the requirement for these ads to highlight their nutritional value, i.e., percentage fat, colestral, etc., like what is required on cigarette packages, but this would only mislead the consumer to thinking that outdoor mamak / hawker fare is better for health when they're not. Let's face it, mamak / hawkers don't advertise so the disclosure requirement doesn't impact them at all.
Perhaps the ministry could consider beating the fast food brands at their own game by doing a better marketing job. I'm not just talking about the standard TVCs, I am talking about the hard core multi-dimensional / integrated marketing campaigns that engages the consumers and their kids to be more conscious about their health. Definitely something a lot better than the "Tak Nak" campaign, which should have been more thoroughly executed, particularly at the consumer engagement levels. Imagine also, if the government will also give tax breaks on gyms and sports club memberships, etc. as economic incentives. Really, if this is to become a national agenda, we should be seeing all the respective ministries working together to tackle the problem, especially at the school level. P.E. sessions should never be the same again.
To be fair to fast food companies, they really do a good job at marketing, especially to kids in school. The ministry needs to be more marketing savvy and beat them at their own marketing game. Even right now, as we discuss this topic, the fast food brands already have their pre-emptive plans or Plan B activated. They probably know more about obesity and health problem than we do. You can see almost all the big players like McDonald's and KFC taking initiaves to come up with healthy meals in their menus as well as help educate consumers on calory intakes, health living, importance of healthy living/exercise, etc. And recently in November, Burger King in the UK has taken a stand to not use kids in their commercials as a self imposed policy.
visual from kfc.com
One of my favouorite healthy lifestyle marketing initiaves is the Smart Spot program initiated by PepsiCo in the US. They basically worked with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Academy of Sciences to come up with food guidelines and when certain products meet this requirement, they can place / use the Smart Spot logo on the products, like their Quaker Oat meal, baked Lays, Gatorade, Diet Pepsi, etc. (all of which are PepsiCo products but of course). This is a really good strategy because Pepsico essentially locks out Coke and their respective product competitors out of the program. After all, which of the competitors would want to join and endorse this when its lead by their rival? In addition to the product labelling, this program also promotes healthy living by educating consumers on the importance of better eating habits and so on. Some of the consumer engagement strategies include working with school and communities to brand or designate certain physical venues as Smart Spots, e.g., basketball courts, for branded / healthy activities to reach consumers on the ground level. Really smart. . visual from smartspot.com
Well, there also brands like Hardee's, a north american chain, who are targeting the "fed up with healthier and low fat menu items" with their Monster Thick burger which is labeled as "a monument to decadence". The results? Higher sales. Obviously competitors followed suit (including McDonald's) - and who can blame them, afterall they are here to do business. It's about giving consumers choices they say. Visual from hardees.com
The root of the problem is at the consumer's level, and this problem is our lack of self control. Don't just look at fast food, look at alchohol consumption, gambling, etc. - they're all about our inability to control ourselves.
OK, I'm going to get myself a value meal now - maybe I should just stick with the medium meal so I don't over eat, but then again, it's more bang for the buck to size up to large, so how? Arghh, my kiasu-ness is killing me!
