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Blog Archive
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Infant Formula Ads and Breastfeeding Rates
June 2014
This month we examine the important question: How does the amount of money spent on advertising infant formula correlate to the uptake of infant formula?
The WHO Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes is not always well accepted by health care workers. Most people think they, and therefore mothers, are not influenced by advertising. It is reported that companies in the USA spend $70 billion a year on TV advertisements (across all products, not just infant formula!). Advertising does work! They expect, and get, a return on this huge investment. So what are the stats on advertising and formula uptake?
The enormous sums of money spent on advertising infant formula correlates closely to the uptake of infant formula in each country. For example in the UK, where the rate of exclusive breastfeeding (7% at 4 months) is one of the lowest in the world, companies spend 10 times more on advertising than the Department of Health spends on promoting breastfeeding. In Norway, by contrast, the rate is 64% at 4 months and advertising is strictly controlled.(1)
Successful advertising succeeds because it creates positive memories and feelings that influence behavior over time to encourage purchase at a later date. Think of the formula ads you have seen - they all have photos of cute, healthy babies and relaxed, loving mothers. Couple that with seeing these advertisements in the baby magazine they devour from cover to cover in their excitement, and noticing tins of formula or advertisements in the clinic or hospital and the association is a very positive one.
Another study(2) looked at the reported effect on mothers of exposure to infant formula marketing materials. They found that formula marketing appears to decrease mothers' confidence in their ability to breastfeed, especially when provided by health care practitioners. A decrease in self-confidence coupled with the positive feelings that have been created by advertisers and infant’s are the losers.
No one likes to think that they are easily influenced, but the proof is in the statistics. And that is why it is so important to continue to campaign for strengthening of the WHO Code and ensuring that your health care facility adheres strictly to its guidelines.
Until next time
Denise
1. Brady, 2012. Marketing breastmilk substitutes throughout the world. http://adc.bmj.com/content/97/6/529.long
2. Parry K, Taylor E, Hall-Dardess P, Walker M, Labbok M. Understanding Women's Interpretations of Infant Formula Advertising. Birth. 2013 Jun;40(2):115-24.
Step 2 Education International Inc.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H4A 1G2
Courriel
This Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit or make a purchase from https://step2education.com (the "Site").
PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT
When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Site, we collect information about the individual web pages or products that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to the Site, and information about how you interact with the Site. We refer to this automatically-collected information as Device Information."
We collect Device Information using the following technologies:
- "Cookies" are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
- "Log files" track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.
- "Web beacons," "tags," and "pixels" are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.
Additionally when you make a purchase or attempt to make a purchase through the Site, we collect certain information from you, including your name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including credit card numbers), email address, and phone number. We refer to this information as "Order Information."
- Users who are undertaking a course as part of a group or organization have certain data tracked as part of the service we provide to Clients and Facilitators. This includes information showing if you have logged in and when, dates of completion and what and when particular study topics, resources and assessments were viewed and completed. We refer to this information as "Student Access Information"
When we talk about "Personal Information" in this Privacy Policy, we are talking about Device Information, Order Information and Student Access Information.
HOW DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
We use the Order Information that we collect generally to fulfill any orders placed through the Site (including processing your payment information, arranging for shipping, and providing you with invoices and/or order confirmations). Additionally, we use this Order Information to:
- Communicate with you;
- Screen our orders for potential risk or fraud; and
- When in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services.
We use Student Access Information to provide accurate tracking to Users and Clients on completion and use of the courses, as well as for analysis on how to improve our services.
We use the Device Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Site (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Site, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising campaigns).
SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We share your Personal Information with third parties to help us use your Personal Information, as described above. For example, with your employer who needs to verify your completion or progress of your studies. We also use Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Site--you can read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Finally, we may also share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful request for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights.
BEHAVIOURAL ADVERTISING
As described above, we use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative's ("NAI") educational page at https://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.
You can opt out of targeted advertising by:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
- Google: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous
Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance's opt-out portal at: http://optout.aboutads.info.
DO NOT TRACK
Please note that we do not alter our Site's data collection and use practices when we see a Do Not Track signal from your browser.
YOUR RIGHTS
If you are a European resident, you have the right to access personal information we hold about you and to ask that your personal information be corrected, updated, or deleted. If you would like to exercise this right, please contact us through the contact information below.
Additionally, if you are a European resident we note that we are processing your information in order to fulfill contracts we might have with you (for example if you make an order through the Site), or otherwise to pursue our legitimate business interests listed above. Additionally, please note that your information will be transferred outside of Europe, including to Canada and the United States.
DATA RETENTION
When you place an order through the Site, we will maintain your Order Information and Student Access Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information. We are required to keep course completion records for at least 5 years in order to comply with certain accreditation requirements.
CHANGES
We may update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons.
CONTACT US
For more information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us by e-mail at info@step2education.com or by mail using the details provided below:
5890 Monkland Avenue, #16, Montreal, QC, H4A 1G2, Canada
Last Updated: September 2018