Bilingual Health Campaign Tackles Sugary Drinks in California

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In a collaborative effort First 5 Contra Costa and Healthy and Active Before 5 created an ad campaign that depicts soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages with sharp, scary teeth.

Sugar Bites is a social marketing campaign that aims to encourage parents to provide their children with healthier beverages.

The ads are featured in both English and Spanish, in order to reach as many people as possible in the 24.8% Hispanic area. Advertisements like these can help educate people and use the same tactics large corporations use to advertise unhealthy drinks and snacks.

“In 2010, one in three low-income kids in Contra Costa County ages 2-5 were overweight or obese,” said Tracy Irwin, public affairs manager at First 5. “Childhood obesity is a public health crisis. It not only threatens the health and future of our children, but the financial stability of our health care system.”

Sugar Bites was posted throughout the county in bus stops, convenience stores, BART stations, and on bank cash envelopes. Their first campaign was issued in early 2013, featuring a soda can and a juice box with ferocious teeth.

First 5 also produced brochures for organizations to give out to those who wanted to learn more about the harmful effects of sugary beverages.

They had an excellent response from the community and local organization, who usually gave out all their brochures and wanted Sugar Bites to print more!

Now in March of 2014 they have released two more advertisements focusing on sugar-sweetened juices (Figures 2). All of the ads encourage parents and the community to choose water instead of sugary drinks.

It is hoped that these memorable ads will stick with people, to lower the amount of soda intake in Contra Costa, Ca., which currently greatly affects the amount of tooth decay, obesity, and type II diabetes in children.

“[We wanted] to produce a hard-hitting bilingual campaign that would grab parents’ attention, start conversations, elicit strong reactions, and ultimately lead to behavior change—reduce children’s consumption of sugary beverages and increase consumption of water,” Irwin said.

To read about the Sugar Bites marketing campaign and their success, you can find the full story on Salud America!‘s Growing Healthy Change Platform.