Disconnect: Fast-food Companies’ Racial Justice Statements and Unhealthy Targeted Marketing Practices

The continued disproportionate, negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black, Indigenous, and all People of Color in the United States highlights how public policies and corporate practices that push high-calorie options and limit access to affordable, culturally acceptable, healthy food are significant barriers to improved public health and health equity, points out a new analysis and report by the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health.

The recently released report reviews racial justice statements made between May 30-July 16, 2020 by two dozen of the nation’s leading fast food chains in the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery – and what has (and hasn’t) happened since then.

“Most fast food restaurants in this analysis made statements supporting racial justice initiatives including increased dialogue on racial discrimination. Some went further and pledged financial donations to racial justice and civil rights organizations, funding for equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, and changes to internal practices to root out discrimination, hate, and intolerance,” the report states. A few restaurants promised to increase diverse representation in advertising.

Significantly, the report points out, “not one statement addressed companies’ core business models, or the commercial determinants of health, that push primarily unhealthy, low-cost food and beverages to increase profits. This disproportionate marketing of high-calorie unhealthy products targeted to Black and Brown communities fuels health inequities.”

The report authors, Sally Mancini, MPH, Director of Advocacy Resources; Melissa McCann, MPH, Research Technician;  and Jennifer Harris, PhD, MBA, Senior Research Advisor; note that “Targeting youth of color with high-calorie nutritionally poor products may contribute to fast-food restaurants’ financial success, but it may come at the expense of contributing to equitable health outcomes. Yet alongside their extensive targeted marketing of unhealthy foods, many fast-food restaurants publicly have announced support for communities of color or specific actions to increase racial justice and equity.”

The 2022 “Rudd Brief” report follows The Rudd Center’s Fast Food FACTS 2021 report that documented fast-food restaurant marketing targeted to Black and Latinx youth in 2019 and found “extensive cause for public health concern.”  Increases in fast-food advertising targeting Hispanic and Black youth, that report found, “almost exclusively promotes high-calorie nutrient-poor menu items raise additional concerns about the impact on health disparities. Black and Hispanic youth face greater risks for obesity and other diet-related diseases.”

This latest report places those findings alongside the statements for racial justice made by fast food giants such as McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Chipotle, Dairy Queen, Restaurant Brands International, Starbucks, Subway and Wendy’s, among others.

The analysis determined that the restaurants varied on the communication platform used to issue their company’s 2020 racial justice statement.

“Some only used the company/restaurant website or Twitter, while others used both. Of the 25 restaurants that issued statements, nine were general statements and 16 were commitment-to-action statements. The 16 restaurants with commitment-to-action statements all made externally focused pledges, while nine also made internally focused pledges.”  Some vowed to “increase the prevalence of Black individuals and other people of color in advertising campaigns as a way to represent the Black community.”

“While this is a laudable goal,” the report stated, “it may be used to increase the appeal of unhealthy products to youth of color.”