Should celebrities be more careful about their endorsements? A new study found that celebrity endorsements of food products encourage less healthy food choices.
What do Taylor Swift, Kelley O’Hara, and Justin Timberlake have in common? These celebs– and hundreds like them– are being called out for promoting unhealthy foods to consumers.
I’ve written about my disdain for these types of celebrity endorsements before, when talking about soccer starKelley O’Hara’s chocolate milk campaign. I feel really strongly about celebs endorsing unhealthy food, because I think that as idols and icons, celebrities need to think beyond inking the sponsorship deal and concern themselves with what message they are really sending their fans.
As reported inTime, anew studyfrom NYU found unhealthy products endorsed by our favorite singers, actors, and sports stars are one of the major reasons that we eat so poorly in this country.
GOODexplains that “A whopping 81 percent of the endorsed food was considered grossly unhealthy, aka ‘energy-dense, nutrient-poor products.’ And seventy-one percent of beverages in the study were sugar-sweetened.” The chart below (from GOOD) examines in detail who your favorite star is shilling for, and if you took out the names one would assume you’re reading a list entitled Worst Foods To Put in Your Body.
I understand that celebrities are looking to make more money, and I realize that it’s the biggest companies that have the most money to spend. But are you ready to be freaked out by just how much money we’re talking about here? Time reports that in 2012, “Beyoncé signed an estimated $50 million endorsement deal with Pepsi, and Justin Timberlake received an estimated $6 million for his role in the McDonald’s ‘I’m lovin’ it’ jingle.”
Not only is that an insane amount of money overall, but when you’re shillingprocessed foodproducts that are linked toobesity,diabetesandcancer, there are serious moral issues. Shouldn’t that go beyond the dollar figures? We all know that whether you’re 14 or 40, seeing your favorite star endorse a crappy product can make you crave it. It’s time for us to stop listening to them!
You might be wondering, asTakePart有多少广告包含了健康的选择肯定有一些,对吧?在研究期间,答案似乎只有一个。韩国歌星Psy和开心果跳舞,开心果是蛋白质和健康脂肪的重要来源。但就是这样!其他的都是食物垃圾。让我们享受这一健康名人代言的荣耀吧。
The good news is that we’re starting to see some changes! Venus Williams and DJ Khaledrecently starred in a campaignfor Silk plant-based milks. And I was super excited to hear that Stephen Curry, gorgeous and talented basketball star of the Oakland team Golden State Warriors,endorses Brita water filtersfor, you know, actual hydration, instead of sugar-infused chemical water.
What endorsements would you like to see your favorite stars or sports icons represent?
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