New Campaign to stop junk food and drink in sports

We recently launched our ‘Let’s get junk food out of cricket’ digital campaign, urging West Australians to consider the appropriateness of junk food and drink marketing in sport, in particular the impact it has on children and young people.

The issue

Sport has immense potential to positively influence the health and wellbeing of Australians, especially children and young people. Despite this, elite sport is used to promote and advertise the junk food and drink brands and products contributing to poor diets.

Junk food and drink marketing in sport is concerning because:

• It has large reach, including exposing children and young people to large volumes of junk food and drink advertising content.
• It can’t be turned off. The junk food and drink marketing appears everywhere, including tournament logos, uniforms, at the grounds and on score boards.
• It uses the positive association we have for our team or sport or player.
• It tries to make the junk food and drink products appear part of a healthy lifestyle.

The campaign

The ‘Let’s get junk food out of cricket’ digital campaign is currently running on Cancer Council WA social media platforms and paid digital media channels.

The campaign coincides with the summer cricket season and campaign creatives highlight the partnership between KFC and Cricket Australia.

The purpose of this campaign is to draw attention to the contradiction of junk food advertising in sport.

As part of the campaign, we ask people to complete a short survey, sharing their thoughts. Results of the survey will be collated and used to further advocate for robust measures to reduce children’s exposure to junk food and drink advertising in sport.

How you can help

If you are a health professional, we encourage you to complete the survey and share the campaign in your newsletters, to your networks and on your digital and social media platforms. The campaign will run from Tuesday 14 December 2021 to Saturday 29 January 2022.

Ways you can share the campaign:

• On your social media platforms:

Visit our Cancer Council WA Instagram or Facebook pages to repost our campaign posts, or create your own post using the text and images below.

Text: Cancer Council WA wants to know what you think about the marketing of junk food and drinks in sport, in particular the impact it has on children and young people. Take part in their survey for a chance to win one of two $250 Rebel Sports vouchers. #CancerCouncilWA, #ObesityPolicyWA, #NoJunkFoodInSport

Survey link: https://www.cancerwa.asn.au/getjunkfoodoutofcricketsurvey/

Social tiles to accompany text (right click and save):

• In your newsletters:

Text: Cancer Council WA wants to know what you think about the marketing of junk food and drinks in sport, in particular the impact it has on children and young people. Take part in their survey for a chance to win one of two $250 Rebel Sports vouchers.

Thank you for helping us get junk food and drink out of all sports.