Are Your Food Ads Racist?

Shutterstock/Ollyy

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


Junk food companies are spending a disproportionately high percentage of their marketing budgets on ads for black-targeted television channels, according to a new study from the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

Spanish-language television is also a draw for junk food companies, although to a lesser degree overall.

The study defines black-targeted TV channels as those with a “high proportion of black individuals in the audience and/or whose ads were viewed disproportionately more by black teens relative to white teens.” The contrast is stunning: Black children see at least twice as many ads for sweets and sodas compared with white children.

Check out the results in the infographics below, and to see the full results of the study, click here.

infographic

University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity
infographic

University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity

 

THANKS FOR READING. NOW ONE QUICK ASK...

Trump and his allies are clamping down on the press—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and the power of the federal government. While major media outlets cave, Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member just chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Will you help us make the most of it?

Every dollar you give online through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

The forces working to demolish trust in the media and the very idea of shared facts are not slowing down. If you believe in kickass, truth-telling independent journalism, now is the time to show it. Please give what you can—any amount—and know that every dollar will go twice as far.

payment methods

THANKS FOR READING. NOW ONE QUICK ASK...

Trump and his allies are clamping down on the press—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and the power of the federal government. While major media outlets cave, Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member just chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Will you help us make the most of it?

Every dollar you give online through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

The forces working to demolish trust in the media and the very idea of shared facts are not slowing down. If you believe in kickass, truth-telling independent journalism, now is the time to show it. Please give what you can—any amount—and know that every dollar will go twice as far.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate