Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2016/05/how-much-is-the-soda-industry-spending-to-defeat-public-health/
Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Mike Newall says the beverage industry is spending a lot of money (“flowing like a Big Gulp”) to defeat the City Council’s soda tax initiative—$2.6 million so far.
Here’s the catch – this time around, the beverage barons only have to win over City Council. There are 17 Council members, so that comes out to about $152,000 in ad dollars each.
Philadelphia is a battleground Big Soda cannot afford to lose.
The soda industry spent more than $10 million to fight soda tax measures in San Francisco (the industry succeeded) and in Berkeley (the industry lost—76% of voters were for the tax).
But what I really want to know is how much the soda industry spent to defeat Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to cap the sizes of sugary beverages at 16 ounces. I live in New York City and here’s what I saw the industry do or heard about (much of this is documented in my book, Soda Politics, and in former NYC Health Commissioner Tom Farley’s Saving Gotham; Farley is now health commissioner in Philadelphia):
Three full-page ads in the New York Times
Signs on Coke and Pepsi delivery trucks
A personal mailing to my home
Tee shirts: “I picked out my beverage all by myself”
People collecting signatures on petitions against the proposal (they said they were paid $30/hour)
Airplane banners
Movie trailers
Video ads
Meetings with city officials
Legal challenges—briefs…