Public Health Advocacy Institute

New study finds McDonald’s and Burger King responsible for 99% of fast-food television ads for kids, suggests industry’s efforts to self-regulate its marketing practices are ineffective

Feet To The Fire, Food Beverage Marketing, News, Obesity, Press Release, Publications, Uncategorized /

Fast-food companies emphasize toy giveaways and movie tie-ins rather than food products when marketing to kids on television, which suggests that industry is not abiding by its self-regulatory pledges for child-directed marketing, according to a study co-authored by the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of […]

New study finds McDonald’s and Burger King responsible for 99% of fast-food television ads for kids, suggests industry’s efforts to self-regulate its marketing practices are ineffective Read More »

Study of State Cheeseburger Bills Finds They Go Well Beyond “Tort Reform”

Obesity, Press Release, Publications /

Cheeseburger Bills or Common Sense Consumption Acts (CCAs) were spearheaded by the National Restaurant Association as well as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and have been enacted in 26 states. Media coverage and legislative debates about CCAs were dominated by themes of personal responsibility and the need for tort reform to protect businesses from frivolous litigation.

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PHAI publishes new resource: www.SmokeLitigation.org

Ets, Publications, Tobacco /

PHAI has just published a new website consisting of searchable summaries of over 600 secondhand smoke lawsuits based in the United States.  The cases stretch back to the 1970s and the data was most recently updated in July 2013.  We will continue to update the site and add new cases as well as indicate developments

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Banned In the Cage: How Xyience and NOS Unfairly and Deceptively Market Energy Drinks

Feet To The Fire, Food Beverage Marketing, Uncategorized /

by Cara Wilking, J.D., Rebecca Leff and Katelyn Blaney The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has its roots in “cage-fighting” and was long considered too wild and violent for mainstream sports fans. Not long ago cage-fighting was shunned by parents, banned by states and rejected by broadcast networks and cable operators for its brutality. While cage-fighting

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NYC’s new soda size restriction should survive any legal challenge (but, so far, hasn’t): An Update

Food Beverage Marketing, News, Press Release /

Updated:  July 30, 2013 At this point, the Supreme Court of NY County (March 11, 2013) and the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Dept. (today) have ruled that the sugary beverage serving size cap in New York is invalid. The case name is: In re New York Statewide Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, et al.

NYC’s new soda size restriction should survive any legal challenge (but, so far, hasn’t): An Update Read More »

Major Energy Drink Makers Don’t Play By Their Own Rules

Feet To The Fire, Food Beverage Marketing, News /

Cara Wilking, J.D Today, the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, released a report entitled Energy Drink Self-Regulation chronicling the ways in which major energy drink makers openly violate the self-regulatory guidelines issued by their own trade association, the American Beverage Association (ABA).  A review of energy drink

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Coors Light and The Wolverine Market Beer to Underage Youth

Feet To The Fire, Food Beverage Marketing, Injury Reduction /

by Cara Wilking, J.D. and Rebecca Leff A new Coors Brewing Company television advertisement called “Mutant Can”shows two scientists in a lab trying to find a way to improve the design of the Coors Light beer can. They then are shown in a movie theater watching The Wolverine (2013) and are inspired to improve the can

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Super-Sized Lunchables Solicits Teens to Upload Risky User-Generated Content

Feet To The Fire, Food Beverage Marketing, Injury Reduction, Obesity /

by Cara Wilking, J.D. Seeking to capitalize on the public’s insatiable appetite for Youtube stunt videos, Kraft Foods has teamed up with Rob Dyrdek, the host of MTV’s Ridiculousness, to market its recently released Lunchables Uploaded line of lunch kits. Marketed to parents as a way to “Give them more of what they love,” Lunchables

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Lorillard Inc., v. United States Food and Drug Administration, No. 11-440

Tobacco /

On February 21, 2011, Lorillard Tobacco Company and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company filed a complaint[1] against the FDA in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the composition of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (“TPSAC”) and alleging that TPSAC failed to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (“FACA”). TPSAC

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R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Food & Drug Admin., NO. 11-5332

Tobacco /

In August, 2011, five tobacco companies[1] filed a complaint [2] against the FDA in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that certain provisions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (“Tobacco Act”) violated their First Amendment right to free speech.[3] The tobacco companies challenged the graphic warning requirements

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Food & Drug Admin., NO. 11-5332 Read More »