Festive Ads for Sugary Drinks Fuel Health Crisis, CAPPA Warns

Sunday Ehigiator

The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has raised concerns over what it describes as the aggressive promotion of sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods during festive periods in Nigeria, warning that such marketing campaigns are worsening the country’s growing burden of non-communicable diseases.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the organisation’s latest report, titled ‘Unhealthy Food Hijack of Festive Periods in Nigeria’, revealed how food and beverage companies strategically exploit cultural and religious celebrations to drive the consumption of unhealthy products.

Oluwafemi explained that the report examined marketing activities during the 2025 Christmas and 2026 New Year festivities, noting that such promotional tactics have become increasingly sophisticated over the years.

According to him, between late November 2025 and early January 2026, CAPPA monitored marketing campaigns across malls, parks, open markets, transport hubs, places of worship and digital platforms. He said the findings revealed deliberate strategies by companies to expand market reach under the guise of seasonal celebrations.

“What we observed was not just a festive celebration but deliberate market expansion. Festive periods were treated as opportunities to intensify brand visibility, associate unhealthy products with social meaning, and drive consumption at scale,” Oluwafemi said.

The report found that food and beverage companies invested heavily in outdoor branding, sponsored events, market activations, community donations, and targeted digital advertisements. These campaigns, CAPPA noted, often linked sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods with values such as togetherness, generosity and celebration, particularly in low-income communities.

Findings from the study indicated that marketing efforts were synchronised across digital and physical spaces, creating widespread visibility of unhealthy food products throughout the festive period.

Monitoring teams observed extensive promotions in major public locations, including shopping malls, markets, transport hubs and churches, while volunteers tracked advertising trends across social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X.

CAPPA also highlighted the use of festive-themed campaigns by major brands to associate their products with joy and national pride. The organisation cited promotional activities such as holiday truck tours, Christmas-themed entertainment events and branded village activations that positioned sugary beverages and processed foods as symbols of celebration.

The report further raised concerns about the targeting of children and young people through cartoon characters, school donations, free samples and youth-oriented entertainment events. CAPPA noted that these initiatives often bypass parental supervision and expose young consumers to unhealthy dietary habits at an early age.

Teenagers and young adults were also heavily targeted through music concerts, influencer campaigns and digital challenges that linked product purchases to entertainment rewards and social recognition.

A major concern identified in the report is the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives as indirect marketing tools. Oluwafemi alleged that donations to schools, churches and community groups were often accompanied by heavy brand promotion, thereby embedding unhealthy food products into trusted social institutions.

“While presented as acts of goodwill, these activities function as advertising and shield companies from scrutiny by framing commercial promotion as charity,” he said.

CAPPA warned that such marketing practices have serious public health implications, especially as Nigeria continues to witness rising cases of hypertension, stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The organisation noted that children, young people and low-income households remain the most vulnerable to these health risks.

The report emphasised that aggressive festive marketing further compounds Nigeria’s already unhealthy food environment, particularly as urban low-income families face limited access to healthcare and rising out-of-pocket medical expenses linked to diet-related illnesses.

To address the challenge, CAPPA called for comprehensive and legally binding restrictions on the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of unhealthy food and beverage products, especially during festive periods. The organisation argued that existing industry self-regulation measures have proven ineffective.

CAPPA further urged the government to prohibit branded CSR activities by food and beverage companies in schools, religious centres, markets and other community spaces, describing such initiatives as disguised advertising strategies.

It also advocates for the introduction of clear limits on outdoor advertising density, particularly in low-income communities, transport corridors and public markets, while calling for stricter regulation of festive promotional events involving product giveaways and price discounts.

On fiscal measures, CAPPA reiterated its call for an increase in Nigeria’s sugar-sweetened beverage tax to at least 50 per cent of the retail price, with proceeds channelled towards non-communicable disease prevention and healthcare system strengthening. It also recommended mandatory front-of-pack warning labels for products high in sugar, salt and saturated fats.