Malaysia is home to more fat people than beer-swilling Germany or fois gras-eating France — and worried politicians think ‘junk’ food ads are to blame. Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders could go the way of the Marlboro cowboy and the Johnnie Walker man — and Malaysia’s media industry stnads to lose RM200 million (US$60 million) in ad revenue.
If nothing is done, the Government claims that one in ten Malaysians could suffer from diabetes by 2020. The Minister of Health, Chua Soi Lek, has reportedly said that a burger and fries are as “sinful” as booze and cigarettes.
The number of fat Malaysians has more than doubled in the last decade — 40 per cent of the population is now seriously overweight.
But other developing countries are fattening fast too. In Thailand, the level of obese children rose by three per cent to 15 per cent in two years, according to the World Health Organisation. In China, obesity levels are below five per cent, but shoot up to 20 per cent in some cities. Could ad bans follow there, too?
Malaysian agencies with the most to lose are Ogilvy & Mather, which handles Pizza Hut; BBDO, which has KFC; and Leo Burnett, with McDonald’s. Nonetheless, the industry has less to fear than the tabloids make out, says Datuk Vincent Lee, president of the Malay-sian 4As. Dr Chua, says Lee, recognises that there are many other reasons for the rapid expansion of the Malaysian waistline. “Obesity is a problem common in countries in the later stages of development, where people exercise less and rely on cars to get around,” he says.
The best solution, he suggests, is self-regulation. In the UK, a ban on advertising fatty foods around TV programming targeting under 16s will be introduced next year. Last month, pressure mounted to extend the ban to press and poster ads — but a total ban has likely been avoided by pledges made by Coca-Cola, Kraft and Mars to scrap all marketing aimed at children.
But is there evidence to suggest that fewer fast food ads translate to a lighter population? “So far, in countries where a ban has been imposed, obesity levels have not fallen,” notes Lee. In Sweden, where advertising to children was banned 13 years ago, kids are no thinner than in European countries where it is permitted.
Advertiser support for public health campaigns is another way around a ban. The Malaysian Government is working to promote healthier lifestyles through the Health Promotion Board — to which Lee was recently appointed. “I am confident the situation can now be managed,” he says.
But before ban talk gets serious, advertisers need to know what is meant by ‘fast food’. “Malaysians have eaten fast food on every street corner since God was a boy,” says an agency account director of a fast food brand. “So have the Indonesians with their fried tempeh and Singaporeans with chicken rice. Will the Government ban hawker stalls too?”
There’s plenty of negotiating to do before a verdict is passed, and a definition of ‘fast food’ needs to be drafted. Malaysia could go the way of Korea, which last month said it would ban fast food advertising across all media. Or Australia, where a ban was rejected in 2005 despite statistics that revealed that Australian kids are exposed to 11 ads a day promoting junk food.
One source predicts: “It’s difficult not to imagine restrictions of some kind in a country where people talk about what to eat for lunch while they’re having breakfast.”
