The Digital Marketplace Can Create Inequity, or Confront It

For decades, food and beverage companies have disproportionately and aggressively marketed unhealthy products to kids of color—from snacks and sugary drinks to candy and fast food. Their tactics are becoming more sophisticated, especially in the digital marketplace, where they collaborate with technology companies to target unhealthy ads at kids across every platform: mobile apps, games, streaming video, social media, and more.  

Companies see youth of color as a growing demographic of important trendsetters who are key to the success of their brands. They enlist powerful “multicultural” icons of youth pop culture in campaigns and follow youth across different devices to deliver tailored messages based on their geolocation, purchasing and eating patterns, and even the ethnic/racial mix of their neighborhood. 

We are working with researchers, policymakers, and advocates to advance equity in the digital marketplace. Some of the strategies we’re exploring include limiting food and beverage companies’ access to consumers’ data. For example, our research shows that participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) who use their benefits online, including people of color and individuals with disabilities, are disproportionately at risk of targeted digital marketing for unhealthy foods and beverages. We are also partnering with international scholars and public health experts to identify successful policy models and to forge global strategies for creating an online marketplace where everyone has equal access to healthy, affordable products.