The food information environment includes food advertising disseminated in various media. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of schools, universities, non-essential commerce, public leisure areas, bars, restaurants, among others, the food information environment has changed in Brazil. People spending more time at home which led to greater exposure to television (TV) and internet advertising content. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the food production sector has invested in new ways to advertise their products that include advertising messages of support, empathy, and solidarity, as well as social responsibility campaigns looking for self-promotion such as food donation and financial aids. Sponsoring online events promoted by Brazilian musicians on social media was also enhanced during the pandemic and allowed food companies to become part of the consumer’s leisure and entertainment moments. The advertising strategies adopted by the food industry during the COVID-19 pandemic are used to generate market demands, influence the consumer purchase decision, and increase their loyalty to the supplier brands. Consequently, individuals may have been more vulnerable to excessive consumption of ultra-processed foods during this health crisis. This commentary aims to describe the changes in the food information environment during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and propose a pathway to promote a healthier food information environment after this health crisis. Perspectives for promoting a healthier food information environment after the pandemic are also discussed, focusing on regulating food advertising with a shared responsibility between government, the food industry, the academy, and civil society.

We analyzed the use of persuasive advertising strategies by 18 food brands on TV and Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube in Brazil in April 2018. Advertising strategies were investigated from three groups: power of advertising strategies (n = 10) (e.g., use of licensed character, celebrities, awards, etc), use of the prize offering (n = 9) (e.g., pay 2 take 3 or more, gifts or collectable, limited edition, etc), and use of brand benefit claims (n = 8) (e.g., messages that exalt sensory-based characteristics such as flavor, taste, aroma and recommend how to use/consume the product, etc). Almost 90% of the brands were ultra-processed foods producers and they carried 52 ads on TV and 194 posts on social media platforms. A higher frequency of the strategy ‘cartoon/company owned character’ was found on TV ads (19.2%; p < 0.0001) in comparison to social media platforms (0% on the three platforms) while the presence of ‘famous sportsperson/team’ prevailed on YouTube (41.4%) in comparison to TV (19.2%), Facebook (10.9%) and Instagram (9.1%), p < 0.0001. On YouTube ads, the claims ‘sensory-based characteristics’ (86.2%), ‘suggested use’ (51.7%), and ‘emotive claims’ (31.0%) were more commonly seen in comparison to the other media, while the claims about ‘new brand developments’ (23.1%), ‘price’ (9.6%) and ‘suggesting to children and the whole family to use the advertised product’ (21.1%) prevailed on TV. Ultra-processed food brands are the main food companies that advertise on Brazilian TV and social media and the message transmitted by these brands varies in each media according to the advertising strategies that are used.

Objective: To investigate the advertising patterns on the posts of a fast-food chain in Brazil on three social media platforms in 2019. Design: An exploratory cross-sectional study. Setting: Advertising strategies on the posts of a major fast-food chain on their official Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube accounts. The strategies were investigated according to the INFORMAS protocol for food promotion monitoring. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to identify advertising patterns in each platform. Participants: 305 advertisements Results: Four advertising patterns were identified in the PCA of Facebook and Instagram. In both platforms, the components for kids and product exaltation were similar. On Facebook, a pattern corresponding to economic appeal was identified as price and discount, while on Instagram, this pattern also included a practical approach. On Facebook, the fourth component was named celebrity, while on Instagram it was celebrity/innovation since on this second social media the component also included the ‘new brand development’ variable. On YouTube, three advertising patterns were identified in PCA. Similar to the other platforms, the first and the second patterns were called for kids and price and discount, and the third component referred to both celebrity and commemorative dates. Conclusions: The advertising patterns of the fast-food chain on three social media platforms were commonly directed to children and addressed price, discounts, and the celebrities’ universe. The findings of this study corroborate other data in the literature regarding unhealthy food advertising on social media. This study discusses the urgency of regulating food advertising content on this medium.

Popular social media platforms have been actively used by ultra-processed food companies to promote their products. Being exposed to this type of advertising increases the consumption of unhealthy foods and the risk of developing obesity and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Thus, monitoring commercial content on social media is a core public health practice. We aimed to characterize the methods used for monitoring food advertising on social media and summarize the investigated advertising strategies via a scoping review of observational studies. This study is reported according to the MOOSE Statement, and its protocol was registered with the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (registration nº. CRD42020187740). Out of the 6093 citations retrieved, 26 met our eligibility criteria. The studies were published from 2014 to 2021, mostly after 2018. They focused on Australia, Facebook, strategies aimed at children and adolescents, and advertising practices of ultra-processed food companies. We grouped strategies in eight classes: post features (n = 18); connectivity and engagement (n = 18); economic advantages, gifts, or competitions (n = 14); claims (n = 14); promotional characters (n = 12); brand in evidence (n = 8); corporate social responsibility or philanthropy (n = 7); and COVID-19 (n = 3). We found similarities in the investigation of strategies regardless of the type of social media. Our findings can contribute to the designing of tools for monitoring studies and regulatory mechanisms to restrict the exposure of food advertising.

Summary The Big Soda segment is central in modern food systems, and they invest heavily in digital marketing, but little is known about it. We aimed to analyze the digital marketing on Facebook of the soda brand with a major worldwide reach. Countries were described in terms of soda brand presence and popularity on Facebook according to countries’ socio-demographic index (SDI) and the market share of soda brand (%MS). From 149 countries, 57.0% had soda brand’s Facebook page among the top five in the number of followers within the beverage segment. Among them, digital marketing was described by the number of the page followers, the number of posts, and the number of interactions (likes, comments and shares) that each post received by Facebook users. Also, we analyzed the characteristics, and the use of marketing strategies on posts in a random sample of 10% (n = 1217) of all posts. We found that soda brand’s popularity on Facebook was higher among countries with higher SDI and higher %MS. Also, the number of users that engaged with soda brand’s posts was higher among countries with lower SDI and higher brand’s %MS. The brand’s posts focus on young adults, display of brand’s products and glorification of its attributes. Other identified features include sport-related thematic and appeals to socialization and healthy eating. In addition, posts’ characteristics differed with countries’ characteristics. Soda brand digital marketing varies according to countries’ characterization and maintains the brand position on the global marketing of beverages.