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For their part, many individual FAU members have begun proactive programmes which seek to educate consumers on healthy eating and living thereby motivating consumers to change their behaviours and/or to make better informed choices. Examples include seeking to create a national movement to get people more active through daily activities, commissioning and broadcasting educational messages on diet and health, including positive messages in editorial content and developing campaigns around healthy eating.

The FAU feels strongly that a government-led, multi-media public education campaign could help to send clear, meaningful and consistent messages to the public. By working with the expertise and resources of a wide range of stakeholders, the messages would be even more powerful and would be likely to be heard by those that need it most. To this end, the advertising industry's skills could be a particularly useful resource. Examples of successful public education campaigns include drink/driving, anti-smoking and anti-drugs. Sustained campaigns have had positive results and have achieved positive behavioural change. The FAU believes that the same could be the case in tackling obesity, and more importantly, improving physical and dietary health. Examples of such campaigns overseas have had successful results also.

It is true that not all public education campaigns succeed. The FAU-commissioned review of public education campaigns, "Public Education Campaigns: What works and what doesn't" (see FAU publications) by Charles Gallichan, former head of Advertising at the Health Education Authority, explains many reasons why this has been the case. In summary, some of the critical success factors of a public education campaign are:

• Financial support for campaigns must be consistent, regular and assured.
• The messengers have to be credible. It must be seen to be a health-based issue and not a government campaign to be effective.
• Messages need to be kept simple and relevant.
• Targets must be realistic.
• The quality of the partnerships and alliances between the various stakeholders is key. Public debate can end up being confusing, as different examples of dietary advice can appear to be mutually exclusive or inconsistent.

More on the role of the industry

• Proactive campaigns  - next page

More briefing papers

• Advertising to children
• Advertising and diet
• International comparison on advertising food to children
• The Regulatory Framework for children's advertising
• What parents and adults think about advertising to children

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