Commercially sponsored health education
Name(s):
Advertising disguised as health education
Product promotion through misleading health statistics
Commercial exploitation of the medically vulnerable
Nature
The use of health education in the promotion of food and personal care products may be misleading to potential consumers. If not handled in a responsible fashion, advertisements including medical information may exploit consumer fears in order to successfully promote products. Such misuse of information may include undue emphasis on statistics, alteration of statistics and subliminal product logos attached to medical information. Those most vulnerable to the manipulation of health statistics in advertising tend to be new parents, children and individuals suffering health conditions.
Counter-claim
The use of health education in advertising provides valuable information for those consumers concerned about product quality. Without access to such information, the consumer is left without standards from which to choose. Advertisements, with or without health statistics, are inevitably manipulative. It is up to the consumer to attend with discretion.
Strategy(ies)
Type
(E) Emanations of other problems