The Appropriation of the Healthy Discourse by the Industry to Promote Harmful Products

Abstract

Based on marketing as a central mechanism of consumption in contemporary society and the rise of the healthy discourse, which has become one of the core pillars of social and consumer behavior in recent decades, many companies have appropriated this narrative to promote their products, even when these are often not aligned with the healthy ideology and are actually harmful to health. To discuss this issue, this article begins by analyzing the example of an American soft drink company that has become one of the largest and longest-standing sponsors of one of the world’s major sporting events. Through billion-dollar sponsorships, the company uses athletes and slogans to advertise its products in a completely disconnected context, as soft drinks are widely recognized for their harmful health effects. In the Brazilian context, the article also investigates how the appropriation of the healthy discourse to promote potentially harmful products has a long history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, companies took advantage of the precarious political, state, and legal organization, as well as the population’s low education levels, to market products such as condensed milk – characterized by its limited nutritional value and extremely high sugar contente – as an ideal substitute for breast milk, and beers as effective tonics against anemia and paleness, even for children. More recently, ultra-processed foods have been promoted with terms like "fit," "natural," "whole," "sugar-free," and "high in fiber," even when they contain high levels of hidden sugars, sodium, saturated fats, or artificial additives.