Government says Change4Life marketing activity hit sugary drink sales

The Government’s £5m new year Change4Life push led to an 8 per cent drop in sales of fizzy drinks high in sugar, it claims. 


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The campaign encouraged people to swap sugary fizzy drinks for healthy alternatives. A TV ad detailed the amount of sugar contained in bottles of fizzy drink and directed people online where they could sign up for vouchers that offered them money-off sugar-free alternatives.  

According to Public Health England (PHE), the executive body responsible for executing the Government’s public health strategy, the year on year drop in sales was maintained through to May with sales dropping 5 per cent in the five months to 31 May. 

More than 400,000 families signed up to Change4Life’s Smart Swaps, PHE claims. The campaign also focused on foods high in sugar and fat. 

Elsewhere, PHE fell short of its targets for multimedia anti-smoking initiative, Stoptober. A quarter of a million (250,000) people signed up in October 2013, down from 275,000 a year earlier. The 130,000 successful quits also fell short of its 160,000 target despite a high profile campaign that it was claimed was ‘bigger and cleverer’ than previous efforts. 

Sales data was compiled by Kantar Worldpanel and was pulled from a sample of 27,000 households. 

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