Like thousands of Australian teenagers, Tom and Ellie Bryant enjoy scrolling through videos on the social media platform TikTok.
Key points:
- New research analyzed the behavior of 16 international food and beverage brands on TikTok
- The researchers said their findings suggested companies were trying to entice social media users to become unofficial ambassadors.
- Experts hope to reignite the debate over junk food advertising
The 13-year-old twins from Melbourne’s outer east are really into Formula 1 videos right now.
Some of his other friends enjoy the fun viral dances and “challenges” that have made TikTok famous.
“It’s a great way to find out what your friends like and how they’re doing,” said Tom.
TikTok says it has more than 7 million users in Australia, so it’s no surprise that big brands have tried to cash in on an emerging market.
However, researchers say major junk food companies are targeting under-18s on TikTok and using “insidious” advertising tactics.
Pepsi’s ‘challenge’ hailed as ‘TikTok at its best’
A study published today by Deakin University analyzed the behavior of 16 international food and drink brands on TikTok.
By analyzing more than 500 videos, the researchers said companies were trying to entice young social media users to become unofficial ambassadors, often through product-related “challenges”.
In a global campaign viewed billions of times, soccer stars Lionel Messi and Paul Pogba threw balls and Pepsi cans at each other, encouraging TikTok users to create similar videos.
A screenshot of a popular Pepsi TikTok campaign, featuring international soccer stars Lionel Messi and Paul Pogba. (Screenshot: TikTok)
On its website, the social media company proclaimed the ad campaign as “TikTok at its best” and said it attracted “hundreds of thousands of young people”.
In another, US TikTok users were encouraged to learn a dance, perform it at a Burger King restaurant and share it online to receive a $1 burger.
American fast food chain Burger King created a “Whopper Dance” for people to perform in order to receive a $1 burger. (Screenshot: TikTok)
In Australia, McDonald’s paid influencers to encourage TikTokers to recreate the “Maccas jingle” to mark the restaurant’s 50th anniversary in the country.
Deakin University associate professor Kathryn Backholer described the branding campaigns as “an incredibly insidious strategy by TikTok and junk food marketing companies”.
Fellow researcher Ruby Brooks said one in four Australian children used TikTok.
“Junk food companies are getting a lot of free marketing for products that we know are harmful to children’s health, while the children or other users who produce that marketing are getting little or no benefit in return,” he said. said Dr. Brooks.
“We would like to see strong government action that puts children’s health ahead of food industry profits and restricts children’s exposure to the marketing of unhealthy food and drink.”
In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson said the company had clear advertising policies to help keep its community safe.
“Our policies explicitly state that advertisements for HFSS foods [foods high in fat, salt or sugar] it should not include a specific call to purchase and should not be directed at users aged 16 or under,” the spokesperson said.
Many teenagers “just get over it”
But can kids see through the spin? Many certainly can.
Ellie and Tom Bryant say they tend to ignore social media campaigns that try to sell products.
“A lot of people I know just walk past and don’t think about it, but there are definitely people who will buy it and try it,” Ellie said.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that 67 per cent of adults were struggling with excess weight in 2018.
If the trend continues, 18 million adults could be overweight or obese by 2030.
Public health advocates have long called for a ban on junk food ads on commercial television during children’s viewing hours.
The Greens have been pushing for the measure for at least 15 years.
The National Obesity Strategy, backed by the former federal government earlier this year, described a crackdown on junk food advertising as a step towards reducing childhood obesity.
However, social media platforms like TikTok present an even tougher regulatory challenge than traditional media, with food and drink ads nine times more common online than on TV, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research on last year.
Brooks called on the Australian government to follow the UK, which is moving to ban junk food advertising online.
Federal Occupational Health Minister Mark Butler has been contacted for comment.