Food firms could face litigation over neuromarketing to hijack brains
食品行業可能會面臨訴訟：其市場營銷手段“劫持”了孩子的大腦
Exclusive: Obesity experts consider lawsuits over marketing they say could be harmful to children.
獨家報道：肥胖症專家考慮對食品市場發起訴訟，因為那些垃圾食品營銷方式會對孩子健康產生危害。
Brain scanning technology found that people derived a guilty pleasure from having their fingers coated with orange Cheetos dust.
腦掃描技術發現，人們手上佔有橙色的芝士渣時，會因為這種罪惡感而感到快樂。
Leading obesity experts are considering litigation against the food industry in the light of emerging research suggesting that junk food marketing could hijack a child’s brain.
一流的肥胖症專家正考慮對食品行業提起訴訟，因為有研究表明，垃圾食品營銷可能會控制孩子的大腦思維。
Neuromarketing is of growing interest to food companies. Fast food, soft drinks and snack companies increasingly interact with children through social media and online games. Some are beginning to probe further, gathering information through brain scans about how unconscious decisions are made to eat one snack rather than another and targeting people’s susceptibilities.
神經營銷對食品公司越來越有吸引力。快餐、軟飲料和零食公司越來越多地通過社交媒體和網絡遊戲與兒童互動。一些人開始進一步探索，通過腦部掃描收集關於如何做出無意識決定吃一種零食而不是另一種零食的信息，並以人們的易感性為目標。
A report on food neuromarketing to children by the Center for Digital Democracy in 2011 predicted “an explosive rise in new tactics targeted especially at young people”.
2011年，數字民主中心發佈了一份關於兒童食品神經營銷的報告，該報告預測，“針對年輕人的新策略將出現爆炸性增長”。
Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, is one of those known to be taking an interest. It hired a neuromarketing firm to explore what happened in people’s brains when they ate Cheetos, its brand of cheese-tasting puffs. Brain scanning technology found that people derived a sort of guilty pleasure from the sensation of having their fingers coated with orange dust.
菲多利公司是百事公司的一家子公司，眾所周知，菲多利對神經營銷很感興趣。該公司聘請了一家神經營銷學公司，研究人們吃奇多奶酪時大腦做出的反應。奇多是它的奶酪味泡芙品牌。腦掃描技術發現，人們手上佔有橙色的芝士渣時，會因為這種罪惡感而感到快樂。
This revelation was behind an advertising campaign called the Orange Underground, playing on that sense of rebellion, featuring a group of snack-food anarchists who covered their faces with scarves made of Cheetos. In 2009 it won a grand award from the Advertising Research Foundation in the US.
這一發現源於一場名為“橙色地下”的廣告宣傳活動，在這種叛逆感的作用下，一群吃零食的無政府主義者用奇多做的圍巾矇住了他們的臉。2009年，它獲得了美國廣告研究基金會的大獎。
Research has also shown that it is possible to train people’s brains to prefer one food over another. A paper in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience in 2014 by Tom Schonberg, a neuroscientist at the University of Texas, Austin, found that making people pay more attention to one junk food than another affected their decisions in the long term. Back in the real world, they were more likely to choose the one they had been “trained” to like through greater exposure to it.
研究還表明，訓練人們的大腦更喜歡一種食物而不是另一種食物是可能的。2014年，德克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校的神經科學家湯姆·施伯格發表在《認知神經科學雜誌》上的一篇論文發現，使人們更關注這種零食而非另一種，從長遠來看，影響了人們的決定。回到現實世界，人們更傾向選擇自己，購買次數多，被“訓練”喜歡的零食。
It could go much further, says Kelly Brownell, one of the world’s leading obesity researchers and campaigners. Brownell, professor of psychology and neuroscience and dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University in the US, says the most interesting studies have not yet been done.
世界領先的肥胖研究人員和活動家之一凱利·布朗內爾說，這種神經營銷還將更進一步。美國杜克大學桑福德公共政策學院的心理學和神經科學教授布朗內爾表示，迄今為止，最有趣的研究尚未完成。
Eating sugary, high salt and high fat foods has an effect on a child’s metabolism. “I would be interested to see what effects are produced by just looking at the advertising,” said Brownell.
吃含糖、高鹽分和高脂肪的食物對孩子的新陳代謝有影響。布朗內爾說:“我很有興趣瞧瞧廣告會產生什麼效果。”
“Does food marketing hijack the brain? There is very interesting neuroscientific research looking at the impact of sugar on the brain. If one proved that the brains of children are being hijacked by marketing, it could open up possibilities for legal action. Companies could be held liable for being engaged in illegal activity if it causes harm.”
“食品營銷會控制大腦思維嗎?”這是一項非常有意思的神經科學研究，研究糖對大腦的影響。如果有人證明兒童的大腦被市場營銷所控制，那就有可能採取法律行動。如果非法活動造成損害，公司可對此承擔責任。
Brownell told the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna that enough studies have been done looking at the extent of junk food marketing and its impact on children. Scientists and activists were concerned, but, he said, “those people are convinced already”.
布朗內爾告訴維也納的歐洲肥胖大會，已經做了足夠的研究，研究垃圾食品營銷的程度及其對兒童的影響。科學家和活動家們都很擔心，但是，他說，“這些人已經被說服了”。
They needed to take the fight to the industry and impact the public and policymakers alike. Lawsuits against food companies for harm to children caused by their junk food marketing would have a big impact. It would also outrage parents and enlist them in the fight.
他們需要與食品行業做鬥爭，同樣也會對公眾和決策者產生影響。針對食品公司因垃圾食品銷售對兒童造成傷害而提起的訴訟將產生重大影響。這也會激怒父母，從而參與到與食品行業的鬥爭中來。
Other possible avenues for litigation are over the soaring cost of obesity-related healthcare in every country, he said, especially for children.
他說，其他可能的訴訟是針對每個國家與肥胖相關的醫療費用的飛漲，尤其是兒童。
Jason Halford, professor of biological psychology and health behaviour at the University of Liverpool and past president of the European Association the Study of Obesity, said science was beginning to show children’s vulnerability to advertising. There were suggestions of a change in brain function.
利物浦大學生物心理學和健康行為教授、歐洲肥胖研究協會前任主席賈森·霍爾福德表示，科學研究顯示，兒童對廣告的滲入束手無策。有跡象表明大腦功能發生了改變。
“There are studies coming out of the US showing when children who are obese see fast food adverts, they react to the logo,” he said. The science could open the way to lawsuits.
他說:“有研究表明，當肥胖兒童看到快餐廣告時，他們會對標識做出反應。”科學可以為訴訟開闢道路。
“If we could show there is a biological vulnerability, it is a game-changer. I think there will come a time when we can demonstrate it. You have a vulnerable child and are exploiting that child for commercial gain at the expense of the child’s health.”
“如果我們能證明生物脆弱性的存在，那麼情況就可以逆轉。我想總有一天我們可以證明這一點。孩子們十分脆弱，以孩子的健康為代價，商家正在利用孩子們的脆弱性獲益。
Tim Lobstein, policy director of the World Obesity Federation, suggested another legal issue to raise with the big companies. “Companies are very protective of their brands. By owning a brand you own a bit of the market,” he said.
世界肥胖聯合會的政策主任蒂姆·洛布斯坦提出了另一個與大公司有關的法律問題。他說：“企業非常保護自己的品牌。他說：“擁有一個品牌，就相當於擁有了一部分市場。”
They threaten legal action against people who use the brand name or logo inappropriately, Lobstein points out – yet companies like Coca-Cola run social media marketing campaigns encouraging people to take pictures of themselves, smiling and waving, with branded props like the huge red Coca-Cola Christmas truck that tours the UK.
洛布斯坦指出，他們威脅要對那些不恰當地使用品牌或商標的人採取法律行動，而可口可樂這樣的公司則在社交媒體上開展營銷活動，鼓勵人們和品牌道具一起拍照，微笑和揮手，比如遊覽英國的紅色可口可樂聖誕卡車。
Companies like Coca-Cola can be protective of their brand yet run social media campaigns encouraging people to take pictures with branded props.
像可口可樂這樣的公司可以保護自己的品牌，同時也會開展社交媒體宣傳活動，鼓勵人們用品牌道具拍照。
“When it comes to social media, the companies are very happy for people to use the brand in a wide variety of situations at home, in the street, at parties, and do nothing to protect the use of their trademark material. It is clearly two-faced and hypocritical,” he said.
洛布斯坦說：“當涉及到社交媒體時，這些公司非常樂意讓人們在家裡、大街上、聚會上、在各種場合使用該品牌，而不採取任何措施來保護其商標材料的使用。這顯然是兩面派和虛偽的。”
An Advertising Association spokesperson said: “The advertising industry in the UK is very aware of its responsibilities towards marketing to children, and the Committees of Advertising Practice (Cap) codes recognise this through specific protections for under-16s.
廣告協會的一名發言人稱:“英國的廣告行業非常清楚自己對兒童營銷的責任，而廣告實務委員會則通過對16歲以下兒童的具體保護來實踐這一點。
“Cap carried out a comprehensive review of advertising to children in 2016 and the codes were reviewed, updated and strengthened last year. The changes mean that whether children are watching content on TV or via the internet and online activities that include advergames, they are subject to the same protections, which was not the case previously.
發言人補充說：“廣告實務委員會在2016年對兒童廣告進行了全面審查，並於去年審查、修訂及加強有關守則。” 這些變化意味著，兒童無論是在電視上觀看內容，還是通過互聯網或包括廣告遊戲在內的在線活動觀看內容，他們都受到同樣的保護，而以前的情況並非如此。
“As young people’s media consumption habits have changed, so have the regulations governing these media. With this in mind, the Cap code is now being reviewed one year on from the changes to ensure they remain fit for purpose.”
“隨著年輕人使用社交媒體的習慣的改變，管理這些媒體的法規也隨之改變。考慮到這一點，廣告實務委員會現正就這些修訂進行一年的審查，以確保該守則能切合需要。”
中英雙語呈現，還可以加強英語學習哦！
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