Health advertising: Prevention for profit

V.S. Freimuth, S.L. Hammond and J.A. Stein

American Journal of Public Health, 1988, vol. 78, issue 5, 557-561

Abstract: The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates on the basis of current knowledge alone that, at a minimum, 30,000 lives could be saved in the year 2000 if Americans would modify their dietary habits. A recent innovative way of responding to this challenge was the Kellogg Company/NCI All-Bran advertising campaign. This paper will describe the campaign, and its impact on consumers, cereal industry sales, food industry advertising practices, health regulatory policy, and the organizational credibility of both NCI and Kellogg. For the past three years, Kellogg has included NCI's cancer prevention messages in their advertisements for All-Bran cereal and on their bran cereal boxes. This collaborative effort has stimulated considerable controversy over whether the health claims made on the cereal label are in violation of federal food labeling regulations. Meanwhile, research has demonstrated the positive impact of the campaign on consumer's knowledge and behavior regarding fiber as well as on Kellogg's profits. Other manufacturers are anxious to jump on the 'branwagon'; however unanswered questions remain about this new approach to health advertising.

Date: 1988
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1988:78:5:557-561_8

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().