Evaluating Operation Good Food & Beverages, a Black Youth-Driven Public Advocacy Campaign.

Background: Food and beverage (F&B) marketing practices that contradict health guidelines are particularly concerning for children and adolescents, who are developmentally more susceptible than adults to persuasive advertising and to Black communities, due to ethnically-targeted marketing, contributing to higher rates of obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases. Accordingly, here we evaluated Operation Good Food and Beverages (OGF&B), an online social marketing campaign calling for shifting toward more marketing of healthier F&B to Black youth and Black communities.

Methods: OGF&B was developed and implemented by a multidisciplinary team of academic, advocacy, and advertising partners and active for four months in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Black Community Conversations About Opposing Ethnically Targeted Marketing of Unhealthy Foods and Beverages.

Efforts to reduce disparities in obesity prevalence affecting Black Americans are having limited success. One reason for this may be the disproportionate, ethnically targeted marketing of foods and beverages high in fat and sugar (FBHFS) to Black consumers. Such marketing promotes high consumption of FBHFS, leading to excess caloric intake and unintentional weight gain.