Food choice and overconsumption: effect of a premium sports celebrity endorser.

Objective: To determine whether exposure to celebrity endorsement in television (TV) food advertising and a nonfood context would affect ad libitum intake of the endorsed product and a perceived alternative brand.

Study Design: A total of 181 children from the UK aged 8-11 years viewed 1 of the following embedded within a cartoon: (1) a commercial for Walker's Crisps (potato chips), featuring a long-standing celebrity endorser; (2) a commercial for a savory food; (3) TV footage of the same endorser in his well-known role as a TV presenter; or (4) a commercial for a nonfood item. Children's ad libitum intake of potato chips labeled "Walker's" and "supermarket brand" was measured using ANOVA.