Use of persuasive strategies in food advertising on television and on social media in Brazil

Abstract We analyzed the use of persuasive advertising strategies by 18 food brands on TV and Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube in Brazil in April 2018. Advertising strategies were investigated from three groups: power of advertising strategies (n = 10) (e.g., use of licensed character, celebrities, awards, etc), use of the prize offering (n = 9) (e.g., pay 2 take 3 or more, gifts or collectable, limited edition, etc), and use of brand benefit claims (n = 8) (e.g., messages that exalt sensory-based characteristics such as flavor, taste, aroma and recommend how to use/consume the product, etc). Almost 90% of the brands were ultra-processed foods producers and they carried 52 ads on TV and 194 posts on social media platforms. A higher frequency of the strategy ‘cartoon/company owned character’ was found on TV ads (19.2%; p