Malaysia Debates On Fast Food Ads
Author: Patrick Mirandah, Patrick Mirandah & Co.
In a move to help encourage its multi racial society to condone a healthy lifestyle, the Malaysian government has issued an immediate directive that all advertisements for fast foods are to be stopped with immediate effect.
Malaysia’s popular local media “The New Straits Times” recently highlighted this government action in the wake of it’s prioritized concern over the alarming decline of the population’s health, with the consumption of fast food products being the main suspecting factor of this uprising calamity. The possibility of banning such advertisements is seriously being considered, where the Health Ministry is already mulling over such a proposal to the Cabinet.
With a view to silencing this “menace” from further escalating to greater heights, the Information Ministry has ordered its prime broadcaster, Radio Televisyen Malaysia Berhad (RTM) to halt fast food advertisements from being aired on television. The Minister of Information, believed that such a move would definitely boost the practice of a healthy lifestyle in the Malaysian society.
The trend of the fast food industry nowadays is to link their products with entertainment, especially with movie and cartoon characters. Brand-name foods and drinks such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola appear on toy cars and helicopters; fast-food chains promote “educational” games and “scratch-and-win” contests. Although wary of the risks such advertisements have on the consumer at large, advertising agencies and their clients were already exercising “self-control” on fast food advertising, such as not targeting children aged below seven.
The Information Minister further added that if studies showed that fast food would adversely affect the people's health, immediate action would then be taken to protect the public.
It was added that although the trend now was that fast food had become part and parcel of people's lifestyle, they should not use it as a way out or a symbol of modern living. As Malaysians, they have many options so as not to make fast food a staple diet.
The Malaysian Information Ministry also made it clear that besides fast food produced by large companies and those under franchise, the authorities would also have to monitor and enforce laws on the use of fast-food ingredients that could be detrimental to health and of those that were produced by small companies and unregistered businesses, to ensure that they comply with the permissible standards.
This is because of the emergence of various “instant” local delicacies in the local consumption market such as sandwiches, curry puffs and other confectionary items, to name a few, that contain preservatives to make the food tastier and last longer, which could be harmful to health.
The banning of advertising of fast food products or “the silent killer”, aptly described by the Malaysian Health Ministry was primarily motivated by the increasing number of Malaysians suffering from “affluent” diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension causes and the critical rise in obesity among children and adults.
A statistical report provided by Weight Management Information Centre revealed that one in every five adult Malaysians is either overweight or obese. Generally, a person who is more than 20 percent above the maximum healthy body weight is considered obese. In Malaysia, the percentage of adult women who are obese is considerably higher (7.9 percent) than men (4.7 percent). Presumably many more are overweight. Although our figures on obesity are good compared with Australian or American women (13.2 and 41 per cent respectively), it is worse than Thailand, Philippines, Japan and China.
The Health Minister also added that the move would also cover endorsements of events linked to fast food. To further support the stand, a fast food “sin tax” is also being pondered. Stressing upon the fact that advertising for cigarettes and liquor are not allowed in Malaysia, he also advocated for the same treatment to be exercised on fast food advertisements.
This move came as a surprise to several companies and operators of fast food outlets, as revenue from fast food advertising on TV, newspapers and billboards approximately totaled over RM100mil annually.
Although the Information Ministry was aware that this issue would have a significant impact on the advertising industry in the country, based on the figures above, they added that the people's health is very important and if not protected, the quality of health will drop and the government has to spend millions of Malaysian Ringgit (RM) to tackle the problem.
The Health Ministry is also looking at the possibility of using RTM as a channel to create awareness to the society of the dangers posed by this “unassuming catastrophe” by organizing talk shows by health and nutritional experts to inform and explain to the public on the adverse effects of such food and its contents on people's health.
Perhaps banning such advertisements is a way of reminding the fast food companies of their obligation to the health of Malaysians, and is a cost effective way of combating the health risks it poses.
However, banning fast food advertisements may not be the complete solution to bad eating habits, according to dieticians. The National Heart Institute Dietetics and Food Services as well as the Malaysian Dietitians’ Association said educating the public on right eating habits might be the better option.
Probably the large public outcry would make the Government review its proposal to ban fast food advertisements. In the alternative it would be a better option to regulate the controls on the ingredients and other related food substances that can arguably cause this calamity as well as alarm the public on the ill effects of consuming fast food.
