Özdemir and the thick advertising
sup.- As early as 2013, Cem Özdemir, as chairman of the Greens, experienced a fiasco in enforcing state-mandated nutrition with the Veggie Day. He stays true to his line. As Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, his goals as a people’s educator are more ambitious. Vegetarian and vegan diets should be enforced through the nutrition program of the BMEL. And the advertising for mueslis and yoghurts that he doesn’t like should soon be over. He wants to enact extensive marketing and advertising bans. The people should only know and eat what the green minister puts on the table. With a lot of hubris, he makes himself Minister of Health in his parallel universe. Commandments and prohibitions should judge it.
A study examined the practical implications of the WHO’s arbitrary nutrient profile model, which the BMEL intends to follow. According to these criteria, which were set without scientific substance, around 70 percent of the foods examined would be affected by the restrictions. In the case of breakfast cereals, around 80 percent should generally no longer be advertised. According to this model, around 76 percent of the common yogurts would only be allowed to take place without advertising. This is a clear cut that affects not only the food industry and trade, but also the media and their economic basis.
The legislative project of the BMEL is justified and driven exclusively by ideology. The minister can only make allegations and cannot produce any facts. Contrary to the minister’s naïve notion that restrictions on advertising could reduce the weight of children and young people, there are a large number of studies that provide reasons for the preferences of children and teenagers when choosing their food. These are studies of the prevalence rates for overweight in socially disadvantaged and educationally disadvantaged groups. The close correlation in the family circle has been studied. There are even studies on the influence of the circle of friends on individual consumer behavior. There is a large number of studies on the different causal relationships and the various causes of lack of exercise up to the socio-economic status and level of education as well as the adaptation of behavior in the social environment. There are no scientifically based studies on the alleged causality between the advertising consumed and the food consumed. Only the hubris of politicians who have given themselves over to the indoctrination of NGOs for years exists here.
This then already leads to arguments and allegations with which the minister exposes himself to ridicule. According to Özdemir, he doesn’t understand why millions are spent on advertising when they are allegedly not responsible for the eating habits of children and young people. In fact, the man did not understand why advertising is taking place. In saturated markets for established products, it is not about changing consumption, but about defending market shares and winning over consumers for the advertised brands. There are also plenty of figures, data and studies that could help the minister to eliminate his deficits.
The ideas of the BMEL not only ignore the facts, but are extremely naive. If the advertising for soaps and deodorants were stopped, the consequence would hardly be an unhygienic and badly smelling population. Instead, a paternalistic policy is pursued here that distracts from the actual tasks. How about an in-depth lifestyle and nutrition education program? How would such a program have to be designed in order to reach socially disadvantaged and educationally disadvantaged groups in society? How could children and young people be inspired for a more vital lifestyle with physical exercise? There are many tasks that could contribute significantly to better health.
Supress
Editor Detlef Brendel
Contact
Supress
Detlef Brendel
Graf-Adolf-Strasse 41
40210 Düsseldorf
0211/555545