I 
 

 

 

 

 

 

The marketing of sugary food products to children on television, 

in South Africa. 

 

Patience Mushamiri 

SAMRC/Centre for Health Economics and Decision Sciences - Priceless SA 

School of Public Health 

University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg 

South Africa 

 

 

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 

Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public 

Health. 

 

Johannesburg 2020 

 

 

 

 

 



II 
 

Declaration 

 

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work, both in concept and execution, and that 

to the best of my knowledge and belief it contains no material written by another person nor 

material that has been accepted for an award of any other degree or diploma of the university 

or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the 

text.  

 

 

_______________________________________ 

(Signature of candidate) 

29th day of March 2021 in Lonehill, Johannesburg 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



III 
 

Dedication 

 

First, I would like to dedicate this research to myself. For my hard work and my resilience 

throughout the whole research process but particularly towards the final push of it. I would like 

to congratulate myself for my bravery and strength and to reassure myself that there is surely 

nothing I cannot achieve, regardless of the obstacles I may face. 

I would like to also dedicate this to my dear husband, Kudakwashe Kuzviwanza. My constant 

supporter, caregiver, cheerleader, my rock and my best friend. You have shown up for me time 

and time again and without your support and belief in me this would not be possible. I love you 

and I am eternally grateful for your life and love.  

To my family: mum, dad thank you for always believing in my abilities and your constant 

prayers. To my siblings Dr Memory Reid, Dr Michael Reid, Dr Ivy Mushamiri and Adrian 

Mushamiri, thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, for being role models, for your 

feedback, your competitive nature, and for taking care of me when I could not do so myself. 

This work is a reflection of not only my hard work but yours as well. You must celebrate 

yourselves equally.  

To my second parents, Mr and Mrs Kuzviwanza, and my two beautiful sisters-in-law Ruvimbo 

Dingani and Amaria Chakabva, thank you. Thank you for the constant phone calls, for the 

messages of encouragement, for the playlists and for the laughter. You lifted me up and made 

me believe in the power, might and grandeur of the woman of colour, and in myself time and 

time again. 

Special thanks to my friends Diana, Dakarai, Mary, Tanaka, Fadzi, Linda, Munya, Betty and 

Chido. You are remarkable beings. May you be blessed. 

Above all I thank God, for my life, for the continuous blessings I am surrounded by. I am 

grateful for the opportunity to continue to excel in a field that I love, and for the clarity of 

purpose this journey has given me. I pray that I will continue to receive your blessings and that 

this be just the beginning of a journey towards helping other women and children in my quest 

to provide equitable health opportunities for those who are in need of them. 

 

 



IV 
 

Abstract 

 

Consumption of unhealthy diets by children has contributed to the high prevalence of childhood 

obesity in South Africa. Exposure to advertising that promotes consumption of sugary food 

products on TV plays a role in children’s dietary choices.  Following industry pledges made 

relating to the reduction of advertising of unhealthy foods directed at children, this study aimed 

to describe the frequency of advertisements for sugary food products and the advertising 

techniques being used to appeal to children on South African TV channels, during children’s 

and family viewing times, over a two-week period. Results from the study revealed that 13% 

of all advertisements aired were for food products, with various techniques being used to appeal 

to children. As industry self-regulation continues to be ineffective it is important that 

government legislates to stop children’s exposure to sugary food products with additional 

specific limitations on the use of persuasive techniques when advertising to children. 

150 words 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



V 
 

Acknowledgements 

I would like to especially thank my supervisor, Professor Sue Goldstein, for her support and 

guidance throughout this research process. Your belief in me and my potential has not gone 

unnoticed and I will forever be grateful for the opportunities you gave me. I would also like to 

thank Professor Karen Hoffman and the whole team at SAMRC/ Centre for Health Economics 

and Decision Sciences – PRICELESS SA. 

I would like to thank Dr Sara (Nieuwodt) Jewett who heads the Social Behaviour Change 

Communication (SBCC) track of the MPH programme at the School of Public Health. Being 

one of your students was a pleasure, and I will cherish all of the lessons and laughter we 

exchanged during my many constant unannounced visits to your office. You are a great teacher 

and mentor. 

I would also like to give a special thanks to Professor Nicola Christofides, for your help 

throughout this research process and particularly your guidance during the qualitative aspect 

of my research and how you constantly challenged and supported me. You too are a great 

teacher and leader and I can surely say the School of Public Health is very privileged to have 

you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



VI 
 

Table of Contents 

1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 

1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 1 

1.2 Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 2 

1.2.1 Childhood obesity and sugar consumption ......................................................................... 2 

1.2.2 Media influence ................................................................................................................ 3 

1.2.3 Television ......................................................................................................................... 4 

1.2.4 Food Advertising Policy and Legislation ........................................................................... 5 

1.3 Rationale ................................................................................................................................. 7 
1.4 Research question, Aim and Objectives .................................................................................... 8 

1.4.1 Research question ............................................................................................................. 8 

1.4.2 Study Aim ............................................................................................................................ 8 

1.4.3 Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 8 

2. METHODS ................................................................................................................................... 8 

2.1 Study design ............................................................................................................................ 8 

2.1.2 Study setting ..................................................................................................................... 8 

2.1.3 Study population ............................................................................................................... 9 

2.1.4 Sample .............................................................................................................................. 9 

2.2 Data collection ......................................................................................................................... 9 

2.2.1 Measurement .................................................................................................................. 10 

 Any additional notes ................................................................................................................ 10 

2.2.2 Data Management ........................................................................................................... 10 

2.3 Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 11 

2.3.1 Quantitative Content Analysis ......................................................................................... 11 

2.3.2 Qualitative Content Analysis ........................................................................................... 12 

2.4 Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................................... 12 

3 RESULTS .................................................................................................................................... 13 

3.1 Quantitative content analysis .................................................................................................. 13 
3.2 Qualitative content analysis.................................................................................................... 17 

3.2.1 Social appeal/social connection ....................................................................................... 18 

3.2.2 Emotional appeal ............................................................................................................ 19 

3.2.3 Taste and enjoyment ....................................................................................................... 20 

3.2.4 Physical appeal ............................................................................................................... 21 

3.2.5 Association with other food ............................................................................................. 22 

4 DISCUSSION .............................................................................................................................. 23 

4.1 Advertising frequency ............................................................................................................ 24 

4.2 Children’s and family viewing times on TV ........................................................................... 25 

4.3 Advertising mechanisms and techniques ................................................................................ 25 
4.4 The use of social media .......................................................................................................... 27 

4.5 Industry self-regulation .......................................................................................................... 28 

4.6 South African legislation ........................................................................................................ 29 
4.7 Limitations ............................................................................................................................ 30 

4.8 Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 30 

References....................................................................................................................................... 32 



VII 
 

Appendices...................................................................................................................................... 39 

Appendix 1 Approved Research Protocol ..................................................................................... 39 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 42 

Background ................................................................................................................................. 42 

Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 43 

Childhood obesity and sugar consumption ............................................................................... 43 

Media influence ....................................................................................................................... 44 

Food Advertising Policy and Legislation .................................................................................. 45 

Problem Statement....................................................................................................................... 46 

Justification ................................................................................................................................. 47 

Research question, Aim and Objectives ........................................................................................... 47 

Research question ........................................................................................................................ 47 

Study Aim ................................................................................................................................... 47 
Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 47 

Methods .......................................................................................................................................... 48 

Study design ................................................................................................................................ 48 
Study setting ................................................................................................................................ 48 

Study population.......................................................................................................................... 48 

Sample ........................................................................................................................................ 48 
Data collection ............................................................................................................................ 48 

Measurement ............................................................................................................................... 49 

Data Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 49 

Data Management ........................................................................................................................ 49 

Statistical Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 50 

Analysis Plan ........................................................................................................................... 50 

Quantitative Content Analysis .................................................................................................. 50 

Qualitative Content Analysis.................................................................................................... 50 

Limitations .................................................................................................................................. 50 

Ethical Considerations ..................................................................................................................... 51 

Project Management ........................................................................................................................ 51 

Project Plan ................................................................................................................................. 51 
Budget 52 

Appendix 2 Ethics Clearance form ............................................................................................... 60 

Appendix 3 Plagiarism form ........................................................................................................ 61 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  



VIII 
 

 

List of Figures and Images 

 

Figure 1: Summary of techniques used in advertisements to appeal to children…………….18 

Image 1: Video clip from an advertisement depicting a group of happy and satisfied peers after 

purchasing sugar-sweetened beverages………………………………………………...........19 

Image 2: Video clip from advertisement of a child attempting to purchase a chocolate by using 

her colourful toy as payment…………………………………………………………………20 

Image 3: A video clip showing bubbling animated shapes appearing after a teacher tastes 

flavourful sweets given to him by his students………………………………………………21 

Image 4: A video clip displaying a custard product being poured onto a bowl of ice cream and 

jelly, with the packaged custard product in display in the background……………………...22  

Image 5: Video clip of a child getting up after falling off skateboard and looking determined  

to attempt the sequence again…………………………………………………………………23 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



IX 
 

 

List of Tables 

 

Table 1: Total number of adverts shown on SABC 1 & SABC 2 during the 2-week period by 

Food and Non-food category…………………………………………………………………13 

Table 2: Total number of Non-food adverts by channel and timeslot…………………………14 

Table 3: Table 3 Total number of Food adverts by channel and timeslot……………………15 

Table 4:  Number of sugary vs non-sugary food advertisements by channel and timeslot……16 

Table 5: Sugary food product advertisements by channel and timeslot……………………....16 

Table 6: Message source in sugary food products…………………………………………....17 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



X 
 

 

List of Abbreviations 

CFBAI                     Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative 

CGCSA                   Consumer Goods Council of South Africa 

CRD                        Chronic Respiratory Disease 

CVD                        Cardiovascular Disease 

DSTV                      Digital Satellite Television 

EU                           European Union 

HREC                      Human Research Ethics Committee 

LMICs                     Low-and-Middle Income Countries 

NCD                        Non-Communicable Diseases 

PDIS                        The Provincial Dietary Intake Study  

PVR                         Persona Video Recorder 

SABC                      South African Broadcasting Cooperation 

SES                          Socio-economic status 

TV                           Television 

UK                           United Kingdom 

USA                         United States of America 

WHO                       World Health Organization               

 

 

 

 

 



1 
 

1 INTRODUCTION 

 

1.1 Background 

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have become a leading cause of death globally over the 

past decade, with diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVDs), chronic respiratory diseases 

(CRDs) and cancers accounting for most of the burden of NCDs (Myers, Fig, Tugendhaft, 

Mandle, et al., 2017). The World Health Organisation (WHO), reports that in 2012 NCDs 

accounted for 68% of global deaths, and of these about 28 million  occurred in Low and Middle 

Income Countries (LMICs) (World Health Organization, 2015). In South Africa, NCDs 

accounted for 51% of deaths recorded in 2016 (Skolnik, 2016), with 5% of the population being 

reported to be diabetic and about 10% being prediabetic (Fischer, Chadyiwa, Tshuma, & Nkosi, 

2019). 

There are several risk factors contributing to the rise in NCD mortality, and among these are 

diets characterized by high intake of fat, salt, and sugars (Nasreddine, Taktouk, Dabbous, & 

Melki, 2019) which contribute to increasing obesity and its associated diseases (Baleta & 

Mitchell, 2014). In 2013, South Africa ranked third among the most obese nations in Africa 

(Myers, Fig, Tugendhaft, Mandle, et al., 2017), and in 2016 65,4% of the female and 40,5% of 

the male population in South Africa were reported to be overweight (The World Bank, n.d.).  

A growing concern, with regards to obesity in South Africa, is the increase in prevalence of 

children who are regarded as overweight or obese, which was reported to be 18,2% in 2016 

(Wicks, Wright, & Wentzel-Viljoen, 2017). Childhood obesity does not only negatively affect 

a child’s quality of life but has also been associated with poor health outcomes as well negative 

economic consequences for the child and society, that may manifest well into adulthood (Wicks 

et al., 2017). Although the prevalence and incidence of childhood obesity has stabilized in high 

income countries, the rates continue to increase in countries like South Africa mainly due to 

the globalization of food systems resulting in a shift towards poor dietary patterns (Kelly et al., 

2019a) with an increase in uptake of packaged foods, street and fast foods and sugary food 

products (Igumbor et al., 2012) which include sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juices, biscuits, 

cakes, chocolates and sweets (Wang, Zhai, Zhang, & Popkin, 2012). 

Of concern is the increase in consumption of diets high in sugar in South Africa, which are 

being adopted by children. The average South African is reported to consume about 23,5 



2 
 

teaspoons or 99g of sugar per day, which is four times higher than the WHO recommended 

intake (World Health Organization, 2015), resulting in South Africa being ranked as number 8 

worldwide for high sugar consumption (Myers et al., 2017). For example, it is reported that 

carbonated drinks, which contain on average 10 teaspoons of sugar, are one of the food 

products that are heavily consumed by children in South Africa (Igumbor et al., 2012).  

Several factors, such as the types of food children are exposed to on a daily basis, have an 

influence on children’s dietary choices. One of particular concern is the marketing of sugary 

food products to children on TV (Zimmerman & Bell, 2010), as exposure to such 

advertisements increases the likelihood of such foods being prominent in children’s diet 

(Nasreddine et al., 2019) making them more susceptible to obesity.   

 

1.2 Literature Review 

 

1.2.1 Childhood obesity and sugar consumption 

The WHO’s guidelines on the intake of sugar, as stated in their official Guidelines for sugar 

intake for adults and children (World Health Organization, 2015) particularly places emphasis 

on monitoring the consumption of foods that have free sugars, which include monosaccharides 

and disaccharides, added to them. They recommended that an individual’s daily free sugars 

intake should not exceed 10% of their total energy intake and should ideally be 5% of the total 

energy intake, which is approximately equivalent to six teaspoons or 25g of sugar (Myers, Fig, 

Tugendhaft, Mandle, et al., 2017). 

In South Africa, a 1999 National Food Consumption Survey reported high sugar consumption 

for children between the ages of 1-9 years, with the most predominant sources of added sugar 

in the diets coming from food items such as table sugar, cordials that had been sweetened, 

sweets, biscuits, carbonated drinks, and children’s breakfast cereals (Labadarios et al., 1999). 

The Provincial Dietary Intake Study (PDIS), that aimed to follow up from the 1999 survey and 

identify nutrient intake and dietary patterns of children between the ages of 0-10 years of age 

conducted in the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces in South Africa, reported similar 

findings. The study found that approximately 50% of children in both provinces had an intake 

of free sugars above the WHO recommended 10% daily consumption. Similar to the 1999 Food 

Consumption Survey, this study found that the predominant sources of free sugar in children’s 



3 
 

diets were from sugar sweetened beverages, granulated sugar, candies and cordials (Steyn, Nel, 

Malczyk, Drummond, & Senekal, 2020).  

Several studies, including a review by (Malik, Schulze, & Hu, 2006), have shown the 

association between the consumption of sugary food products, particularly sugary beverages, 

and weight gain in children. Furthermore, in an analysis of the dietary patterns of a cohort of 

children in New Zealand, results concluded that consumption of diets high in sugars was 

associated with greater risk of adiposity and obesity in children (Flynn et al., 2020). Children 

are exposed daily to multiple factors that influence their food consumption and dietary choices. 

Exposure can take place in different environments such as in or around schools (Godin, 

Chacón, Barnoya, & Leatherdale, 2017) as well as in more social settings such as entertainment 

platforms in the media. Taking this into account, childhood overconsumption of unhealthy 

foods, particularly sugary foods, should be viewed as a complex issue, that has both social and 

environmental influences (Shin, 2013)requires careful investigation.  

 

1.2.2 Media influence  

Although several factors play a role in children’s dietary choices, one factor that has received 

increasing attention is food marketing and advertising to children (Nasreddine et al., 2019). 

The use of media to market foods to children has been proven to contribute to children’s diets 

and the types of foods children prefer, which may increase the risk of childhood obesity.  

Several modes of persuasive marketing and advertising techniques directed to children exist. 

These include the use of premium offers, (Longacre et al., 2016) promotional characters (Kelly, 

Hattersley, King, & Flood, 2008), emotional appeals and production effects (Vilaro, Barnett, 

Watson, Merten, & Mathews, 2017). Examples of these include  the use of familiar characters 

such as cartoons and animated characters (Castonguay, Kunkel, Wright, & Duff, 2013), as well 

as the use of music, bright colours and shapes in the marketing material (Scully et al., 2015). 

These techniques work to enhance brand recognition and formation of para-social relationships 

with animated characters(Castonguay et al., 2013) in children as young as 2 years old (McHiza, 

Temple, Steyn, Abrahams, & Clayford, 2013). The techniques are also visually appealing and 

stimulating to children as the aesthetic features associated with the food being marketed can be 

seen to represent play and fun (Scully et al., 2015). 

The use of persuasive techniques has been documented to be higher in advertisements for 

unhealthy food than for those for healthy food items, with food advertisements aired during 



4 
 

children’s viewing times having more persuasive techniques than food advertisements intended 

for older audiences (Vilaro et al., 2017). The use of such techniques when advertising sugary 

food products may increase the child’s desire for products, may affect negotiation and 

purchasing requests to parents when children come into contact with the products (E. J. 

Boyland & Halford, 2013), also known as pester power, and may also have an effect on the 

child as a future consumer (MediaSmarts, 2020).  

Cognitive development studies have shown that younger children, particularly those under the 

age of 12, have lower cognitive defences, therefore are more susceptible to television marketing 

in general (Scully et al., 2015). In a report on the impact of media on children in South Africa, 

researchers at the Youth Research Unit at UNISA emphasize the importance of understanding 

how marketing and advertising campaigns attempt to expose children to certain media in 

relation to their level of cognitive development (UNISA, 2015), as children at this age often 

lack the ability to effectively recognize the intentionally persuasive intent and influential 

effects of advertisements (Landwehr & Hartmann, 2020). As their knowledge about products 

and brands that are being advertised develops, children begin to develop strategies for purchase 

requests and negotiations to caregivers (Scully et al., 2015), making it increasingly important 

to monitor and regulate the types of food advertisements they are exposed to, particularly on 

TV. 

 

1.2.3 Television 

Although many channels of media currently exist, the majority of marketing of foods to 

children occurs on television (TV), as research has shown that television is the form of media 

that children aged 3-11 consume most frequently (Landwehr & Hartmann, 2020).  

Evidence has suggested that there is an association between the amount of time spent watching 

TV and the consumption of an energy dense diet comprised of sugary food products, due to 

exposure to food advertisements and marketing (Zimmerman & Bell, 2010). Watching an one 

hour or more of television a day has been shown to increase a child’s likelihood of consuming 

unhealthy food (Landwehr & Hartmann, 2020) as several studies have documented that the 

majority of advertisements shown on TV during children’s viewing times are for food 

advertisements (Ok, Ercan, & Kaya, 2016).  

In a study that aimed to investigate the association between TV food advertising and the 

prevalence of childhood obesity in thirteen research groups across 8 countries in Europe and 



5 
 

the Americas, researchers reported that up to 29% of advertisements shown during viewing 

time allocated to children’s programs were food advertisements, and that of these up to 87% 

were of unhealthy foods (Goris, Petersen, Stamatakis, & Lennert Veerman, 2009). In another 

study in Ireland, over 90 % of food advertisements that were aired during children’s viewing 

times included advertisements for sweet and sugary snacks (Scully et al., 2015). In a content 

analysis of TV advertising in South Africa, researchers report the common use of popular 

cartoon characters to endorse sugary foods such as sweets, sugar-added cereals as well as sweet 

carbonated beverages to children (McHiza et al., 2013) 

 

1.2.4 Food Advertising Policy and Legislation  

Several guidelines and policies exist globally with regards to the marketing of food to children. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed Resolution WHA 63.14 in 2010, which 

aimed to guide member states in their efforts in the development of policy that regulated 

marketing activities of unhealthy food products to children, such as those high in fat, salt and 

free sugars, with the hope of reducing consumption of those food products (World Health 

Organization, 2010). 

Furthermore, the WHO’s published Commission On Ending Childhood Obesity (World Health 

Organization, 2017), as well as its Global Action Plan For Prevention And Control of NCDs 

2013-2020 (World Health Organization, 2015),  identifies guidelines for daily sugar 

consumption and makes an emphasis on the need for legislation aimed at reducing the impact 

of exposure to unhealthy foods as a result of food industry advertising targeted at children, as 

indicators to raise awareness around childhood obesity and reduce premature mortality from 

NCDs.  

Governments and industry regulations in countries such as the United States of America (USA) 

and the United Kingdom (UK), have made an effort to limit the amount of food advertising on 

TV during children’s programs (E. Boyland & Harris, 2017). Countries like Chile for example, 

have strict laws that restrict all food advertising targeting children below the age of 14 via all 

media channels (Coates, Hardman, Halford, Christiansen, & Boyland, 2019). 

In South Africa, the Department of Health Directorate on Food Control has published several 

regulations, with regards to advertising of different food products. An example of such a 

regulation is the Draft Regulation Relating to The Labelling and Advertising of Food (R429) 

of May 2014 (Department of Health, 2014), which has a section that addresses 



6 
 

marketing/advertising of food to children. The draft states that “No food or non-alcoholic 

beverage shall be marketed to children unless it complies with all the criteria in Guideline 14.” 

(Department of Health, 2014). Guideline 14 essentially states that no unhealthy food may be 

advertised on radio or TV between the hours of 06:00 – 21:00, irrespective of whether that 

advertising is published outside of children’s programmes (Department of Health, 2014). 

However, as it is still a draft to this day, it is not officially a regulation under South African 

law, and therefore not binding. 

Recently, the South African government, through the Department of Communications 

published a White Paper on Audio and Audiovisual Content Services Policy Framework. In 

section 5.4.2 the document touches on advertising standards and includes a sub-section that 

speaks to the protection of children in relation to the content of advertisements. The draft 

proposes that the regulator must make regulations “in respect of scheduling” on “the 

advertising of alcoholic beverages and harmful foods that are high in salt, sugars, fat, saturated 

fats or trans-fatty acids or that otherwise do not fit national or international nutritional 

guidelines” (Government Gazette, 2020). Although the extent and mechanism of regulation on 

the broadcaster is not explicitly specified, it is encouraging that the effects of advertising on 

children are being acknowledged in the proposed legislation.  

Besides current efforts underway by the government and department of health to control the 

advertising of food products to children, organizations in the food industry have also embarked 

on self-regulation efforts with regards to this issue. The Consumer Goods Council of South 

Africa (CGCSA), an organization comprising of several companies in the food industry such 

as the Coca-Cola Company and Nestle for example, made a pledge in 2008, to not market 

unhealthy food to children below the age of 12 years old on TV (CGCSA, 2009). However, 

there is concern of the effectiveness of such strategies as several evaluations across the world 

have demonstrated limited reductions in the amount and frequency of sugary food 

advertisements targeting children following implementation of food industry self-regulation 

(E. Boyland & Harris, 2017), as it is not actual legislation, therefore not binding.  

In a review of industry self-regulatory initiatives with regards to the restriction of child-

targeting food and beverage advertising, (Landwehr & Hartmann, 2020) report on a number of 

studies that highlight how industry self-regulation has had low impact in reducing 

advertisements of unhealthy food targeted at children. The same trend is seen in South Africa, 

as there is reported evidence of continued advertising of unhealthy foods to children on national 



7 
 

TV channels regardless of the pledges made by companies in the food industry (McHiza, 

Temple, Steyn, Abrahams, & Clayford, 2013). 

It is evident that there is a growing concern of the effects of the kind of food products that 

children are exposed to on TV, and the impact it has on unhealthy dietary choices and 

essentially childhood obesity. Though efforts by industry to self-regulate are a step in the right 

direction, they are not fully effective strategies in controlling children’s exposure to sugary 

foods advertising. Following the making of such pledges by companies in the food industry in 

South Africa, as well as formation of drafts such as the R429 (Department of Health, 2014), 

and the White Paper on Audio and Audiovisual Content Services Policy Framework, it is 

important to understand the current marketing/advertising trends and techniques being used to 

advertise such products to children with the aim being to limit any form of persuasive 

marketing techniques directed at children. 

 

1.3 Rationale  

With the increase in prevalence of NCDs in South Africa, it is important to address the several 

risk factors associated with these diseases (Myers, Fig, Tugendhaft, & Mandle, 2017). Dietary 

choices in particular, play a large role in the increase of obesity and its related consequences. 

The sugar consumption rates of an average South African, of 99g per day, are of concern, and 

are believed to have an association with weight gain and increased risk of NCD mortality 

(Malik et al., 2006). With the rise in the prevalence of obesity, particularly childhood obesity, 

it is important to monitor any influencers to children’s dietary choices food preferences, 

purchasing behaviour and in particular how certain unhealthy food products are marketed to 

children on television.  

Following pledges such as those made by the South African Consumer Goods Council and the 

Coca-Cola company relating to marketing of sugary foods and beverages to children (CGCSA, 

2009), very few studies have investigated the current marketing techniques being used to 

advertise such foods to children. Evidence exists suggesting that industry self-regulation is not 

as effective in bringing about reduction in advertising (E. Boyland & Harris, 2017). It is 

therefore important to get a view of the marketing and advertising techniques currently being 

used. This study aims to explore the frequency of and mechanism being used to market sugary 

foods to children on South African television channels. 

 



8 
 

1.4 Research question, Aim and Objectives 

 

1.4.1 Research question 

How are sugary food products marketed to children on TV in South Africa? 

1.4.2 Study Aim 

The study aims to investigate the advertising landscape of sugary food products during 

children’s television viewing times in South Africa.   

 1.4.3 Objectives 

1. To describe the frequency of advertisements for sugary foods shown on television in 

South Africa during the time allocated to children’s programs in the month of October 

2019 

2. To describe the frequency of advertisements for sugary foods shown on television in 

South Africa during the time allocated to family programs in the month of October 2019 

3. To describe the advertising mechanisms, techniques and characteristics being used to 

advertise sugary foods to children on TV in South Africa 

 

2. METHODS 

 

2.1 Study design  

The study design was a cross-sectional mixed methods design. Both quantitative and qualitative 

methods were used to address the different objectives of this study. Quantitative methods were 

used to address the first two objectives which dealt with the number of sugary foods 

advertisements shown on South African TV channels during child and family viewing times. 

Qualitative methods were used to address the third objective with regards to the characteristics 

and mechanisms being used to advertise sugary food products to children on South African TV 

channels. 

2.1.2 Study setting 

The study setting was two SABC free to air television channels in South Africa. 



9 
 

2.1.3 Study population 

The study population was all the advertisements that were shown on the selected free to air 

South African TV channels during children’s (15:00-17:00) and family (17:00-19:00) viewing 

times in the month of October 2019.  

2.1.4 Sample 

Purposive sampling was used to select the channels that were included in this study, which are 

local (SABC) free to air channels, SABC 1 and 2. In South Africa it is reported that 82% of 

households own a television set (STATS SA, 2017), and watch TV regularly. The South 

African Broadcasting Cooperation (SABC), has three broadcasting stations, namely SABC 1, 

2 and 3 which are broadcasted freely on air, that is, no subscription or fee is required in order 

to access these stations (Shobiye, Mulliah, & Rugbeer, 2018). SABC 1 and 2 which are said to 

represent the youth as well as family and culture respectively, (SABC, 2018) mainly broadcast 

their programmes in a range of languages including as isiZulu, isiXhosa, TshiVhenda, 

TshiTswana, Afrikaans and English, while SABC3 transmits it’s programmes mostly in 

English (Shobiye et al., 2018). As of the 2017/2018 financial year, SABC reported attracting 

over 28 million South African viewers a month, with SABC 1 and 2’s broadcast reported to be 

covering 91,2% and 92,5% of the population, while SABC 3 covers 82,1% (SABC, 2018). On 

these channels, the time between 15h00 – 17h00 is primarily dedicated to children’s 

programmes such as cartoons and educational shows, while the time between 17h00-19h00 is 

primarily dedicated to programmes such as talk shows and family friendly dramas (McHiza et 

al., 2013). Children are reported to view TV during both times allocated primarily for children’s 

programs as well as during programming dedicated to family programmes. It is therefore 

important to consider both these viewing times when investigating the marketing of sugary 

foods to children on TV, and so these two timeslots were selected. 

 

2.2 Data collection 

Data was collected by recording viewing on the two channels SABC1 and SABC2 during the 

times 15:00- 19:00. Recording was done by recording programming on one channel per week. 

In the first week of October I recorded programming between 15:00-19:00 on SABC 1, and in 

the second week recorded programming between 15:00-19:00 on SABC 2. Therefore, the 

recordings were for four hours a day, during weekdays (Monday to Friday) for a period of two 

weeks. It was estimated that on average, there are at least six commercial breaks during one 



10 
 

hour of viewing (McHiza et al., 2013). This would have given at least 120 advertisements per 

channel per week, and approximately 240 advertisements at a minimum during the two-week 

period for analysis. 

 

2.2.1 Measurement 

For each advertisement shown during the selected timeslots, the following information was 

recorded:  

• Date – The date of the advertisement 

• Channel – whether SABC 1 or 2  

• Timeslot- either between 15:00-17:00 or 17:00- 19:00 time slot  

• Food or non/food product   

• Category – such as beverage, dessert, water, cereal, fast food etc 

• Brand – if food product is affiliated to a particular food brand/company 

• Message source – who the individual/s in the advertisement are eg. Children, teachers, 

doctors etc  

• Animated character/celebrity – whether the advertisement includes an animated 

character or celebrity 

• Claims – were any health claims made? Such as ‘food is nutritious, assists with 

strength’ etc  

• Inclusion of health disclaimers (warning about excess consumption) 

• Any additional notes  

 

2.2.2 Data Management 

Video data collected during the two-week period was taped and stored on a Digital Satellite 

Television (DSTV) Multichoice explorer personal video recorder (PVR). This is a recording 

device provided by the Multichoice group for customers subscribed to this satellite television 

service. Entry/logging data was stored and managed using Microsoft Excel. The data was 

cleaned and any errors in capturing of the data were corrected.  



11 
 

2.3 Analysis 

Content analysis has been stated as a “research method for making replicable and valid 

inferences from data to their context, with the purpose of providing knowledge, new insights, 

a representation of facts and a practical guide to action”  (Macnamara, 2005). Content analysis 

may be used in both a qualitative or quantitative way (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). The use of both 

quantitative and qualitative content analysis was meant to ensure that the study did not just 

focus on quantitative data such as the frequency of advertisements, but also investigated the 

techniques, mechanisms and styles of advertising being used.  

2.3.1 Quantitative Content Analysis 

For the first two objectives which aimed to describe the frequency of advertisements for 

sugary foods shown on television in South Africa during the time allocated to both children’s 

and family viewing times, quantitative content analysis was done using Microsoft Excel. 

Descriptive analysis with all relevant descriptive tables as well as cross-tabulations were done 

on all the listed variables such as food type, category and message source.  



12 
 

2.3.2 Qualitative Content Analysis 

For the third objective, which aimed to describe the advertising mechanisms, techniques and 

characteristics being used to advertise sugary foods to children on TV in South Africa 

qualitative content analysis was carried out. After all recording was completed, all the 

advertisements shown depicting sugary foods were purposively selected for a detailed 

qualitative content analysis. This yielded seven advertisements that were recorded from the 

stored videos on the DSTV PVR decoder onto a cellular phone. These videos were then 

transferred onto a computer file and converted to MP4 format. They were then imported into 

MAXQDA software for analysis. The individual advertisement videos were inductively coded 

and captured the audio, visual as well as contextual concepts in the advertisements. MAXQDA 

software was further used to assist in establishing relationships between codes by the use of 

Code Matrix Browser, Code Relations Browser and the Code Map. This gave a clearer 

indication of the types of persuasive techniques being used in the advertisements in order to 

appeal to children and elicit brand recognition and loyalty. 

Coding as well as development of a code book was carried out with the assistance of a fellow 

coder (a post-graduate student in the Master of Public Health programme). Issues relating to 

trustworthiness and intercoder reliability were dealt with by use of the MAXQDA Intercoder 

agreement function which examines code occurrence, code frequency as well as code 

intersection  (MAXQDA, n.d.). Following this thematic analysis was done in MAXQDA and 

findings are presented in the Results section. 

 

2.4 Ethical Considerations 

The protocol for this study was submitted to the University of Witwatersrand Postgraduate 

Assessor Group and the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of the University of 

Witwatersrand for ethical approval, which was granted. 

Since no individuals were interviewed or observed, there was no need for consent forms.  Data 

collection was through the viewing of TV adverts on free to air South African channels. 

Collected data was stored on a Google Drive folder that could only be accessed by me and my 

supervisor. 

 

 



13 
 

3 RESULTS 

 

3.1 Quantitative content analysis 

During the two-week period 681 advertisements were recorded on channels SABC1 and 

SABC2 during the time periods of 15:00-19:00 from Monday to Friday.  

Table 1 below depicts the number of food and non-food advertisements shown on the channels 

SABC1 and SABC2 during the two-week period. Food advertisements made up 13% of all the 

advertisements shown during this two-week period. Although there were more advertisements 

overall during the 17:00-19:00 timeslot, there was a slightly higher percentage of food 

advertisements within the 15:00-17:00 timeslot.  

Table 1: Total number of adverts shown on SABC 1 & SABC 2 during the 2-week period 

by Food and Non-food category 

Advert 

category 

Timeslot 

15:00-17:00 17:00-19:00 15:00-19:00 (Grand 

Total) 

n % n % n % 

Food 40 14.8 49 12,0 89 13,1 

Non-food 231 85.2 361 88,0 592 86,9 

Grand 

Total 

271 100% 410 100% 681 100% 

 

Table 2 below depicts the number of non-food advertisements shown on SABC1 and SABC2 

during the two-week period. Most of the advertisements on SABC1 were for TV show adverts 

such as soap operas, while most of the advertisements on SABC2 were store advertisements. 

Of concern is the appearance of an advertisement for alcoholic beverages on SABC1 that aired 

during the family viewing time of 17:00-19:00 under the ‘other’ category. 

 

 

 

 



14 
 

Table 2: Total number of Non-food adverts by channel and timeslot 

 Category Channel 

SABC1 by timeslot SABC1 

Total 

SABC2 by timeslot SABC2 

Total 

Total 

15:00-

17:00 

17:00-

19:00 

15:00-

17:00 

17:00-

19:00 

n % n % n % n % n % n % n % 

TV Show 

advert 

50 8,4 40 6,8 90 15,2 77 13,0 10

0 

16,9 17

7 

29,9 26

7 

45,10 

Toiletries 8 1,4 47 7,9 55 9,3 8 1,4 7 1,2 15 2,5 70 11,82 

Store advert 8 1,4 34 5,7 42 7,1 1 0,2 18 3,0 19 3,2 61 10,30 

Insurance 19 3,2 24 4,1 43 7,3 1 0,2 12 2,0 13 2,2 56 9,46 

Detergent 10 1,7 19 3,2 29 4,9 4 0,7 9 1,5 13 2,2 42 7,09 

Medication 7 1,2 6 1,0 13 2,2 8 1,4 13 2,2 21 3,5 34 5,74 

Sports team 

advert 

6 1,0 7 1,2 13 2,2 3 0,5 1 0,2 4 0,7 17 2,87 

Awareness/h

ealth Advert 

8 1,4 1 0,2 9 1,5 1 0,2 3 0,5 4 0,7 13 2,20 

Festival 

advert 

5 0,8 6 1,0 11 1,9 1 0,2 
 

0,0 1 0,2 12 2,03 

Other 6 1,0 10 1,6 16 2,7 
 

0,0 4 0,7 4 0,7 20 3,4 

Grand Total 12

7 

21,5

% 

19

4 

32,8

% 

32

1 

54,2

% 

10

4 

17,6

% 

16

7 

28,2

% 

27

1 

45,8

% 

59

2 

100,00

% 

 

Table 3 below depicts the number of food advertisements of different categories shown during 

the two different timeslots on channels SABC1 and SABC2 during the two-week period. The 

majority of advertisements observed during both time periods were for unhealthy foods with 

fast foods making up 28,6% of all the advertisements observed on SABC  1 and confectionary 

making up 58% of all the advertisements observed on SABC 2, during the 15:00-17:00 timeslot 

which dedicated to children’s viewing. Although not classified as sugary foods in this study, 

fast foods do contain a significant amount of sugar, therefore the presence of advertisements 

displaying this type of food during children’s viewing time is important to take note of. 

Advertisements for foods that can be classified as healthy foods such as vegetables and meat, 

for example, only made up 2% of all the advertisements observed during the two-week period. 

 

 



15 
 

Table 3 Total number of Food adverts by channel and timeslot 

Food 

category 

Channel 

SABC1 by timeslot SABC1 Total SABC2 by timeslot SABC2 

Total 

Total 

15:00-17:00 17:00-19:00 15:00-17:00 17:00-19:00 

n % n % n % n % n % n % n % 

Fast food 4 28,6 17 48,6 21 42,9 2 7,7 7 50 9 22,5 30 33,7 

Confectionery 3 21,4 4 11,4 7 14,3 14 53,8 1 7,1 15 37,5 22 24,7 

Cereal 1 7 3 8,6 4 8,2 5 19,2 3 21 8 20 12 13,5 

Chips (Potato 

crisps) 

2 14,3 3 8,6 5 10,2 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 5 5,6 

Dairy 2 14,3 2 5,7 4 8,8 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 4 4,5 

Bread 
 

0,0 3 8,6 3 6,1 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 3 3,4 

Spices 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 2 7,7 
 

0,0 2 5 2 2,2 

Sauce 
 

0,0 1 2,9 1 2,0 
 

0,0 1 7,1 1 2,5 2 2,2 

Fresh 

Vegetable 

1 7 
 

0,0 1 2,0 1 3,8 
 

0,0 1 2,5 2 2,2 

Noodles 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 2 14,3 2 5 2 2,2 

Meat 
 

0,0 2 5,7 2 4,1 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 2 2,2 

Stock cubes 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 1 3,8 
 

0,0 1 2,5 1 1,1 

Dessert 1 7 
 

0,0 1 2,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 1 1,1 

Sugar 

sweetened 

beverage 

 
0,0 

 
0,0 

 
0,0 1 3,8 

 
0,0 1 

 
1 1,1 

Grand Total 14 100 35 100 49 100 26 100 14 100 40 44,9% 89 100 

 

Table 4 below depicts the number of sugary and non-sugary food advertisements shown during 

the two different timeslots on channels SABC1 and SABC2 during the two-week period. There 

were 36 advertisements repeatedly aired displaying sugary food products during the two-week 

period, making up 40% of all the food advertisements shown during the time-period. The 

channel SABC2 had a higher percentage of sugary food products aired in comparison to non-

sugary food products. The majority of the sugary food advertisements were aired during the 

15:00-17:00 timeslot that is allocated to children’s programmes, with 76% of all the food 

advertisements aired during the 15:00-17:00 timeslot on SABC 2 being for sugary food 

products.  

 

 



16 
 

Table 4: Number of sugary vs non-sugary food advertisements by channel and timeslot 

Food advert 

category 

Channel 

SABC1 by timeslot SABC1 Total SABC2 by timeslot SABC2 

Total 

Grand Total 

15:00-17:00 17:00-

19:00 

15:00-17:00 17:00-19:00 

n % n % n % n % n % n % n % 

Sugary 5 35,7 7 20 12 24,5 20 76,9 4 28,6 24 60 36 40,4 

Non- 

sugary 

9 64,3 28 80 37 75,5 6 23,1 10 71,4 16 40 53 59,6 

Grand Total 14 100 35 100 49 100 26 100 14 100 40 100 89 100 

 

Table 5 below depicts the type of sugary food product advertisements shown during the two 

different timeslots on channels SABC1 and SABC2 during the two-week period. The sugary 

food advertisements observed consisted of seven unique advertisements which were repeatedly 

aired during the research period. These were put into different categories such as 

confectioneries, cereals, desserts, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Advertisements for 

confectioneries, such as chocolates, made up 61% of the total sugary food advertisements 

shown, with the highest percentage being recorded on SABC2 during the timeslot 15:00-17:00, 

which is allocated for children’s programmes.  

Table 5: Sugary food product advertisements by channel and timeslot 

Sugary food 

category 

Channel 

SABC1 by timeslot SABC1 

Total 

SABC2 by timeslot SABC2 

Total 

Grand Total 

15:00-

17:00 

17:00-

19:00 

15:00-

17:00 

17:00-

19:00 

n % n % n % n % n % n % n % 

Cereal 1 20 3 43 4 33,3 5 25 3 75 8 33,3 12 33 

Confectionery 3 60 4 57 7 58,3 14 70 1 25 15 62,5 22 61 

Dessert 1 20 
 

0,0 1 8,3 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 
 

0,0 1 3 

Sugar 

sweetened 

beverage 

 
0,0 

 
0,0 

 
0,0 1 5 

 
0,0 1 4,2 1 3 

Grand Total 5 100 7 100 12 100 20 100 4 100 24 100 36 100 

 



17 
 

Table 6 below depicts the various message sources that were dominant in the sugary food 

products advertisements recorded in the two-week period. As can be seen from the table 

children and young adults were the main characters in the advertisements for sugary food 

products, referred to here as message sources. They were portrayed in different forms; just as 

children in a family or casual setting, in a school setting where they are referred to as students, 

or as older adolescent children in a casual setting in which they are referred to as young adults. 

Table 6: Message source in sugary food products 

Message source n Percentage of total 

Students 16 44,4% 

Children 13 36,1% 

Students and teacher 2 5,6% 

Man as grown up child 1 2,8% 

Friends 1 2,8% 

Young adults 1 2,8% 

Mother and child 1 2,8% 

Mother 1 2,8% 

Grand Total 36 100,0% 

 

3.2 Qualitative content analysis 

The sugary food advertisements recorded during this period were separated into different 

categories as displayed above (see Table 5).  

The seven unique sugary food advertisements that were repeatedly aired during the two-week 

time-period were purposively selected and analysed to understand the advertising mechanisms 

being used. The content of these advertisements appears to have been designed with the aim of 

being persuasively interesting and attractive to individuals in its target audience, referred to 

here as appeals, in order to elicit strong brand recognition and loyalty. The different appeals 

were achieved by using several techniques such as the use of light, colour, and sound. Figure 

1 below summarises What these appeals were, and How they were achieved.   



18 
 

 

Figure 1: Summary of techniques used in advertisements to appeal to children 

 

Below is a description of the various types of appeals used in the sugary food advertisements 

analysed during the two-week period, as well as the accompanying techniques within each 

appeal. It is important to note that most of the advertisements used more than one appeal per 

advertisements in order to attract children to the sugary products under display. 

 

3.2.1 Social appeal/social connection 

Social appeal describes the appeal to the individuals desire for social connection. Some of the 

types of social connections displayed in the advertisements included displays of affection such 

as sharing, as well as the concept of relationships and friendships, with strangers as well as 

known individuals.  

An example of such a connection is in an advertisement of a sugar-sweetened beverage where 

a group of friends are seen together purchasing the product in a makeshift cart they have created 

together. As soon as they have purchased the product, they are displayed drinking it in 

satisfaction of their achievement of working together and making use of the cart that allowed 

them access to the beverage. In this example the desire for social connection is tapped into by 

the display of working together in an innovative manner with friends. This appeal is further 



19 
 

solidified by the use of visual and audio tools such as colour, light, laughter and music as the 

successful group of friends, dressed in colourful clothing, on a bright sunny day leave with 

their colourful beverages laughing and happy with the product jingle playing in the 

background.  

The further use of visual tools to elicit brand recognition and further social connection in this 

advertisement is seen by the constant display of the product and the product brand logo 

throughout the advertisement. The product is displayed several times during the advert, and at 

the end the brand logo, along with a product slogan and the display of a social media application 

where further information and activities surrounding the product can be accessed,  is presented. 

This strengthens the appeal/desire for social connection as social media is prominently used by 

children and adolescents and has increasingly been used in marketing that is targeted at 

children.  

 

 

Image 1: Image from the advertisement depicting a group of happy and satisfied peers after 

purchasing sugar-sweetened beverages 

 

3.2.2 Emotional appeal 

Emotional appeal refers to the appeal to an individual’s feelings and emotions. These kinds of 

appeals were displayed in the advertisements in the form of facial expressions, hand gestures 

and affectionate physical contact such as hugging.  



20 
 

In some of the advertisements, this appeal was presented in a light manner, in the form of 

laughter, happiness and humour. In other advertisements, the appeal was presented in the form 

of sacrifice, compassion, and empathy. An example of this is in an advertisement for 

confectionary, a young child who has been fetched from school by an exhausted mother, 

attempts to purchase a chocolate for her as a birthday gift. As she does not have enough money, 

she attempts to trade what appears to be two beloved toys for the chocolate, which a 

compassionate shop owner refuses to accept and instead gives her the chocolate regardless of 

her not having provided him with sufficient funds for it. The overjoyed and surprised mother 

hugs her daughter affectionately, as the chocolate is presented to her.  

In this advert the emotional appeal is played out by the display of an intimate and affectionate 

relationship between a mother and daughter, as well as the display of empathy and compassion 

from the store owner. The visual tools such as the depiction of colourful clothing worn by both 

the mother and child, the use of colourful toys, and continuous display of the chocolate in 

several frames of the advert are a clear technique to further solidify brand recognition in this 

advert 

 

Image 2: Image from advertisement of a child attempting to purchase a a chocolate by using 

her colourful toy as payment. 

 

3.2.3 Taste and enjoyment 

Taste and enjoyment refer to an individual’s positive experience of flavour through eating food 

that is perceived as desirable. 



21 
 

This appeal was used by the inclusion of strong visual and audio techniques within all the 

observed advertisements. Enjoyment of food was visually depicted using individuals smiling 

and closing their eyes in satisfaction when ingesting the sugary food product being advertised. 

There was also prominent use of colourful animated shapes such as colourful stars when the 

sugary food product was ingested in an advert for sweets. Another visual tool was the use of 

imagination as seen in for example, in an advertisement for a custard pudding, where the adult 

eating the custard imagined themselves as a child eating and enjoying the custard.   

Product display, with presentation of multiple product flavours, was dominantly associated 

with taste and enjoyment and was often coupled with audio techniques such as a product jingle 

and slogan. This was usually descriptive of the sugary food products good flavour, taste and 

nutrition and coupled with statements such as ‘nourish your great’ in one of the advertisements. 

Other audio techniques that were used included the use of sound such as a bubbling effect or 

popping music when a chocolate or sweets were ingested. All techniques described above can 

be described as being purposively visually and audially appealing to children in order to 

reinforce the idea of how tasty and flavourful the sugary food products on display were. 

 

Image 3: An image showing bubbling animated shapes appearing after a teacher tastes 

flavourful sweets given to him by his students. 

 

 

3.2.4 Physical appeal 

Physical appeal refers to the appeal to an individual’s physical attributes such as strength, 

endurance, and athletic performance.  



22 
 

This appeal was dominant in an advertisement for a range of cereals in which children are seen 

performing physical tasks such as playing soccer and riding on skateboards. The advert 

displays the children continuously attempting to perfect their athletic skills, and persevering, 

even when they fall. Eventually the children perform well with one child scoring a goal during 

match and the other managing to complete a skating round without falling. In this advert the 

themes of stamina, perseverance, athletic ability as well as physical strength are displayed.  

Visual and audio use of colour, continuous product display and the brand jingle are further used 

in most of the clips depicting the children in the advertisement achieving physical success, to 

make the advertisement both catchy and memorable for its target audience. 

 

Image 4: Image of a child getting up after falling off skateboard and looking determined to 

attempt the sequence again 

 

3.2.5 Association with other food 

Association with other food is an important aspect observed in several of the sugary food 

advertisements that is worth noting. Association with other food refers to the implication of a 

link or connection between one type of food, in this case a sugary food product, and another 

type of food.  

It is important to note that the food types usually associated with sugary food products in these 

advertisements were usually unhealthy food products such as fried potato chips, or other sugary 

foods such as ice cream and jelly. In majority of the frames where sugary food products 

appeared they would be placed alongside an associated food. This visual technique used 

unhealthy foods that are already appealing to children then associated them with sugary food 



23 
 

products ensuring that when children saw the unhealthy foods, they might immediately 

associate them with the sugary food products. 

 

Image 5: Image displaying a custard product being poured onto a bowl of ice cream and jelly, 

with the packaged custard product in display in the background  

 

4 DISCUSSION 

The increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity, particularly in South Africa is of concern 

as obesity in childhood is associated with increased risk factors for associated NCDs in 

adulthood such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Vilaro et al., 2017). Several influencers 

to children’s dietary choices and consumption behaviours exist, such as the marketing and 

advertising of unhealthy food directed at children  (Kelly et al., 2019a). There is a documented 

causal link between an increase in exposure to unhealthy food, which includes sugary food 

products, through advertising, and obesity in children (Kontsevaya et al., 2020).  

Amid draft regulations aiming to regulate children’s exposure to food advertising on television 

in South Africa and the signing of a pledge not to directly market to children by companies in 

the CGCSA, this study aimed  to investigate the frequency of sugary food advertisements 

shown on South African television channels, SABC1 and SABC2, during both viewing times 

allocated for children’s programming and family programming. Further, the study aimed to 

describe the advertising mechanisms, techniques and characteristics being used to advertise 

sugary food products to children on TV in South Africa.  

 



24 
 

4.1 Advertising frequency  

A total of 681 advertisements were recorded, which gave an average of approximately eight 

advertisements per hour. This is in line with previous studies that have reported an average of 

six to ten advertisements per hour on South African channels (McHiza et al., 2013). The 

advertisements for food products made up 13% of all the advertisements shown. Of these, 

sugary food advertisements made up about 40% of the food advertisements. The channel SABC 

2, which is said to represent family values and cultural diversity (SABC, 2018) had a higher 

number of advertisements of sugary foods in comparison to SABC 1. It may also be that since 

SABC 2 has a higher number of Afrikaans speaking viewers, this may represent individuals of 

a higher SES and therefore industry may invest more in advertising to this particular audience. 

Results from this study are slightly better than those reported from other countries over the 

years in terms of the amount of food advertising that children are exposed to. In a recent study 

investigating the extent and nature of food advertising to children in Russia for example, 

investigators reported that after analysing recordings from two child-oriented and three 

adolescent-oriented channels over a three month period, 19% of the advertisements children 

we exposed to were for food. However, of these, 64% of the advertisements were for unhealthy 

foods compared to 40% in our analysis (Kontsevaya et al., 2020). 

 Several other studies that conducted a content analysis of food advertisements on children’s 

television channels in different countries over different periods of time reported finding even 

higher percentages of food advertisements during children’s viewing times with food 

advertisements making up 20% of all the recorded advertisements in Guatemala (Cosenza-

Quintana, Morales-Juárez, Ramirez-Zea, Vandevijvere, & Kroker-Lobos, 2020), 27% of all 

advertisements recorded in the USA (Powell, Szczypka, & Chaloupka, 2007), 31% of all 

advertisements recorded in Australia (Chapman, Nicholas, & Supramaniam, 2006) and 32% of 

all advertisements recorded in Turkey (Ok et al., 2016)  It is encouraging to note that compared 

to other high and middle-income countries, the frequency of food advertising that children are 

exposed to is lower in South Africa. This however does not take away from the fact that 

advertising of such nature, 13% as observed in this study, still exists and has not decreased 

over the years. In comparison with different studies previously carried out in South Africa, 

particularly one by (McHiza et al., 2013) that analysed food advertisements on South African 

TV for both adults and children on four free-to-air channels, over a four week period, looking 

at three different timeslots (15:00-17:00hrs; 17:00-19:00hrs and 19:00-21:00hrs), the 

frequency of sugary food product advertisements aired on South African free-to-air channels 



25 
 

has not decreased over the past seven years, but has remained relatively the same. This implies 

that children in South Africa are still being exposed daily to sugary food product 

advertisements on free-to-air channels at the same frequency as they were seven years ago, 

despite the existence of the CGCSA pledge. 

 

4.2 Children’s and family viewing times on TV 

The study recorded advertisements during two different timeslots, which are dedicated for both 

children’s and family programmes. In a study that investigated children’s exposure to foods 

and beverages that are classified as unhealthy food through marketing and advertising in 22 

countries, (Kelly et al., 2019b) found that advertising of such foods generally occurs during 

broadcast times known to have the greatest number of child viewers. Their results demonstrated 

that the rate of unhealthy food and beverage advertisements was 50% or more higher during 

peak viewing times for children’s programmes in seven of the countries. (Kelly et al., 2019b). 

Observations of the same nature were found in a study in Malaysia, which reported that 28% 

of all advertisements aired during programming known to be viewed by children were for 

unhealthy food (Hastings & Cairns, 2010).  

Similarly, on the channel SABC 1, both the timeslot for children’s programmes and the time 

for family programmes had a similar number of advertisements for sugary food products aired. 

On SABC2, however, close to 80% of the food advertisements aired during the timeslot 

dedicated to children’s viewing were for sugary food products. This is a concerning 

observation, as airing the majority of sugary food products during time allocated for children’s 

programmes implies that the advertisements were directly targeting children, despite the 

growing burden of childhood obesity, and calls by the public health and academic communities 

to lessen children’s exposure to unhealthy food products. 

 

4.3 Advertising mechanisms and techniques 

Food corporations spend millions of dollars yearly to fund research on the cognitive and 

behavioural effects of their various advertising mechanisms and techniques on children and 

adolescents (Connor, 2006). Therefore, the content of the advertisements that are aired during 

children’s programming has been carefully crafted with the intention of appealing to its target 

audience and encouraging brand loyalty and product purchase.  



26 
 

Several studies have reported that persuasive marketing techniques are more frequently used 

in unhealthy food advertisements aimed at children, in comparison to those for adults, with 

advertisements aimed at children averaging about five techniques per advertisement (Vilaro et 

al., 2017). Advertisements displaying such techniques have also been observed to air mostly 

during peak times for children’s programmes (Kelly et al., 2019a).  

The most frequently documented appeals include product novelty, enjoyment, fun, the use 

promotional characters as well as the use of children or child-like characters as the main 

character or message source of the advertisement (Kontsevaya et al., 2020). One study that 

looked at unhealthy food advertising aimed at toddlers and pre-school children found that 82% 

of the advertisements, particularly those for sweetened cereals, fruit snacks, candies and frozen 

desserts, used the appeal of fun and happiness as an advertising mechanism. The study also 

reported branding as dominant aspect of the advertisement, with social and emotional appeals 

being used as a way to form a connection with products or brands (Connor, 2006).  

Results from the content analysis of this study highlighted how similar persuasive techniques 

as those documented above were used in order to appeal to children in different ways. This was 

achieved by the use of audio-visual techniques. The audio techniques included the use of sound 

such as laughter, the use of music such as popping and bubbling sound effects as well as a 

product slogan or jingle that played at key moments and towards the end of the advertisement. 

The visual techniques included continuous product display, brand logo display and the use of 

colourful shapes and clothing. These techniques were used to appeal to the children through 

emotional, social and physical aspects that were displayed by using relatable characters such 

as young children as the message source, in attractive and familial settings.  

Another technique observed in this study which was of interest is the use of phrases that may 

be categorized as health claims. This was prominent in advertisements that mainly appealed to 

strength, stamina and physical abilities. Phrases such as ‘Nourish your great’ and ‘Helps you 

stay active and alert’ are examples of phrases that were used together with a visual display of 

a child performing exceptionally well at a physical task such as sport after ingesting the 

advertised sugary product. The use of such claims has been documented to potentially cause 

positivity bias, causing consumers to perceive an unhealthy food as healthier than it really is. 

A number of studies (Cosenza-Quintana et al., 2020) state that parents and caregivers are more 

likely to agree to purchase foods if they perceive them to be healthy based on the presence of 

health claims regarding their nutritional quality. In the advertisement observed in this study, 



27 
 

the product package which listed all the nutrients available in the product was continuously 

displayed on screen, however the high sugar content of the product was not. This is a deliberate 

and misleading tactic which has the potential to contribute to continuous consumption of this 

product by children, which is in fact high in sugar. 

Findings from this study are very similar to those reported in previous studies from other 

countries, and continue to shed light on the persuasive techniques being used to deliberately 

market unhealthy foods, and in this case sugary food products, to children. The companies 

using these techniques are aware of the fact that children have limited cognitive abilities, and 

as they are still developing  are unable to discriminate between the persuasive intent of an 

advertisement of this nature (Vilaro et al., 2017), making them highly susceptible to the effects 

of continued exposure to such content.  

 

4.4 The use of social media  

This study focused on advertising on South African television, as television has been the 

primary medium by which food companies advertise to children and has the greatest reach 

among South African children. There is however, increasing evidence of a shift in company 

advertising expenditure from television to digital marketing on various social media platforms, 

with the rise in digital media consumption (Baldwin, Freeman, & Kelly, 2014), where an array 

of techniques are being used to promote products and engage with younger audiences (Potvin 

Kent, Pauzé, Roy, de Billy, & Czoli, 2019). 

Several social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and Tik tok 

have become increasingly popular around the world and in South Africa (Kubheka, Carter, & 

Mwaura, 2020). The use of social media for advertising is an emerging market, and is 

particularly beneficial when marketing to children and adolescents as the use of social media 

among children and adolescents is becoming increasingly widespread (Robinson et al., 2017) 

It is reported that 80% of children and adolescents in  USA use Youtube and Instagram, while 

adolescents in Canada spend approximately 120 minutes a day surfing the internet (Potvin Kent 

et al., 2019). Although use in a middle-income-country like South Africa may be relatively 

lower because of limited access to data and WIFI connections, overall engagement on these 

platforms by children and adolescents is likely to be increasing.  

In this study, although the focus was television advertisements, during one of the 

advertisements there was the use of a social media tag where at the end of the advertisement 



28 
 

an invitation to further engage with the sugary food product on a YouTube channel, in this case 

a sugar-sweetened beverage, was displayed. The use of such a tag is a way of further engaging 

with children on a platform that is familiar with them. Social media platforms have the ability 

to further elicit brand loyalty as they are heavily engaging (Robinson et al., 2017) making it 

difficult for children to differentiate between entertainment and promotional content (Baldwin 

et al., 2014). In a review of the sugar-sweetened beverage industry’s marketing directed at 

children, (Welsh, Lundeen, Stein, & Stein, 2013) state how beverage companies have begun to 

use social media platforms such as videos, contests and downloads on their sites. They also 

specifically mention the use of social media links, similar to the one observed in this study, by 

companies as one of the many direct techniques being used by beverage companies with the 

intention to appeal to children 

The use of such a social media tag in this advertisement can be seen as an intentional attempt 

to further appeal to children and ensure brand loyalty and continued consumption of the sugary 

food product. This presents as an even greater problem, as content on various social media 

platforms is highly unregulated (Baldwin et al., 2014) making it difficult to control what 

children can potentially be exposed to. 

 

4.5 Industry self-regulation 

Despite the identification of policies to reduce the impact of the marketing of unhealthy foods 

and beverages on children in order to reduce childhood obesity and premature mortality from 

NCDs by 25% by 2025 by the WHO (World Health Organization, 2017), global progress on 

restricting children’s exposure to unhealthy foods from marketing has been limited and 

primarily addressed by industry self-regulation (Kelly et al., 2019a).  

Several studies have documented how industry self-regulation has been ineffective in limiting 

children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing, and can be seen rather as a form of public 

relations ploy (Kelly et al., 2019b). In two separate studies that looked into industry self-

regulation in the USA, including assessing the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising 

Initiative (CFBAI), both (Kunkel, Castonguay, & Filer, 2015) and (Vilaro et al., 2017) reported 

that despite implementation of industry self-regulation, unhealthy food advertising directed at 

children continues. Another study was carried out to examine the effectiveness of the EU 

Pledge, which was a self-regulation initiative by leading food companies that aimed to restrict 

advertising of food products high in fat, salt and sugar to children in Europe. Results from the 



29 
 

study revealed that although the overall number of child targeted food advertisements aired 

during children’s programming times did reduce, the nutrient profile model agreed on by 

signatory companies on what was deemed healthy and unhealthy foods was very lenient. This 

resulted in children still being exposed to unhealthy food products, even during children's 

programming, regardless of the appearance of compliance to the pledge by signatory 

companies (Landwehr & Hartmann, 2020).  

In South Africa (Hastings & Cairns, 2010) stated in their study that despite claims of reduced 

child-targeted advertising by industry, sugary food product advertisements were still being 

aired on South African free-to-air channels. A further study by (McHiza et al., 2013) carried 

out in 2013 held the same sentiment, and now observations from this study still report similar 

findings where a number of companies that were part of the CGCSA pledge on not marketing 

unhealthy food to children below the age of 12 years old on TV (CGCSA, 2009) as well as the 

Coca-cola company had advertisements for sugary food products that were aired during 

children’s viewing times.  

Evidence from this study shows how there is need for governmental action in the 

implementation of strict standardized regulations in relation to child-targeted marketing of 

unhealthy food in South Africa.  

 

4.6 South African legislation 

Attempts to regulate the type of content that children are exposed to in advertising in South 

Africa is a step in the right direction. Both the Draft Regulation Relating to The Labelling and 

Advertising of Food (R429) of May 2014, as well as the White paper on Audio and Audiovisual 

Content Services Policy Framework of 2020 which attempt to regulate both the company 

advertising their product as well as the broadcaster respectively, highlight how it is of 

paramount importance to protect children’s health by regulating what they are exposed to. 

Implementation of both regulations could work together with other interventions to limit the 

amount of sugary food products consumed by children and lower the prevalence of childhood 

obesity in South Africa.  

However, since the Draft R429 has been in the draft phase for six years now, it is unlikely it 

will be implemented into a regulation. It is likely that an amended version of the draft will have 

to be composed and republished, further extending the time before an actual regulation from 

the government can be put in place. To this regard, this means that until such a regulation is 



30 
 

implemented, there is no law restricting the marketing of harmful food products to children, 

thus there are no penalties if such marketing is undertaken. Furthermore, with regards to the 

section 5.4.2 in the White paper on Audio and Audiovisual Content Services Policy Framework, 

although it proposes regulations to protect children from the content of advertisements that is 

deemed harmful, it also does not specify what this regulation entails, nor does it specify the 

mechanism or extent of regulation.  

Several countries, such as Chile, Mexico, Ireland and Norway, have implemented regulations 

that restrict the marketing of unhealthy food products to children (World Cancer Research Fund 

International, 2018). In South Korea for example, the regulation does not only limit the content 

that is advertised during children’s viewing on TV, but also puts a restriction on all advertising 

on radio and internet platforms that includes a “gratuitous” incentive to purchase (Lee et al., 

2017). Although the effect of implementation of regulations that restrict child-targeted 

advertising has not been consistent across all countries, reviews of some countries show 

promise in the long term and encourage continued monitoring and updating of regulations in 

line with the development of new advertising techniques by industry in reaction to these 

regulations (Lee et al., 2017). 

 

4.7 Limitations 

The current study, though important, was not without limitations. The study was carried out on 

two free-to-air channels. This represents a particular demographic within South Africa and 

limits exposure to individuals who view other television channels that are free-to-air, as well 

as individuals who use television platforms such as DSTv. More broadly this also limits access 

to those individuals who rely on internet platforms such as Netflix, Showmax as well as 

Youtube and Youtube kids and social media advertising that occurs on such platforms. The 

study was also carried out during the month of October, for only two weeks, which may have 

limited access to other sugary food advertisements, as there may be increased food advertising 

during holiday periods such as Easter or Christmas.  

 

4.8 Conclusion 

Several studies have demonstrated an association between consumption of foods high in sugar 

and obesity in children. Exposure to these types of foods through marketing and advertising on 

TV has played a great role in children’s dietary choices, with several types of marketing 



31 
 

techniques being employed. Although industry has volunteered to reduce television advertising 

directed at children, industry self-regulation continues to be ineffective as evidenced by the 

continued presence of advertising of sugary food products directed at children on TV found in 

this study. It is of paramount importance that government legislates to stop children’s exposure 

to unhealthy food products, particularly those high in sugar, on TV, radio and the many 

emerging social media platforms, with additional specific limitations on the use of persuasive 

techniques when advertising to children. Current draft regulations are a step in the right 

direction but need to be expedited in order to strengthen the likelihood of reducing the 

prevalence of childhood obesity and the potential related risk of morbidity and mortality from 

associated NCDs in the future. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



32 
 

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39 
 

 

 

 

Appendices 

Appendix 1 Approved Research Protocol 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The marketing of sugary food products to children on television,  

in South Africa. 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Name: Patience Mushamiri 

Student Number: 779247 

Supervisor: Professor Sue Goldstein 



40 
 

 

 

 

 

Abbreviations 

CGCSA                   Consumer Goods Council of South Africa 

CRD