UK vs Obesity

Obesity rates in the UK are the highest in Europe and have increased dramatically over the past few years to such an extent that in excess of 20% of the population are now obese. In Birmingham, over 25% of the population are obese - the third highest rate in the UK. With national averages of over 40% of males overweight and more than 20% obese in the 16-75 year age range, while in women the averages are lower for the overweight classification but higher for obesity. (University of Birmingham Research Centre)

Although obesity can be tackled through increased exercise and a better diet, for those who are already obese the health consequences are severe. On average, being obese decreases life expectancy by nearly 10 years. In addition, it is associated with dramatically increased risks of developing type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease and hyperlipidaemia. It has also been suggested that in the future, obesity could not only become the leading cause of liver failure, but also the leading cause of cancer worldwide. 

Reasons why obesity is gradually increasing

Firstly, there is easy access to cheap, high-energy food that is often aggressively marketed to people such as chips, junk food, soft drinks, McDonalds, KFC, and every other fast food joints. Secondly, people’s lifestyles and jobs are much less active than in the past and many leisure activities has bloomed such as watching television, playing video games and browsing the internet are usually done sitting down. Thirdly, people drive or use public transport nowadays and walk a lot less than they used to.

The causes of obesity relate to a fundamental imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. A reduction of physical activity in combination with an increased consumption of more energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats, have led to obesity rates that have risen drastically. (The World Health Organisation)

Although the importance of exercise and a healthy diet is widely reported, further research into the forms of exercise and the types of diet that are most effective at reducing obesity is needed. Furthermore, many people do not make the necessary lifestyle changes that are needed to tackle obesity and therefore, there is an urgent need for viable interventions that can successfully influence the adoption and maintenance of physical activity and healthy eating in the general and clinical populations of UK.

References
Obesity in The UK - University of Birmingham Research, 2013. [ONLINE] 

Latest obesity stats for England are alarming - NHS Choices, 2013. [ONLINE]

-Bryan

Diet Coke

Diet Coke is the sugar free version of coke that is specially made to cater people who are on diet. It provides only 1kcal per 250ml serving. Diet Coke was launched in 1982 in America and arrive United Kingdom the year after. In less than one year, the drink became the largest selling low calorie soft drink in America. Later on, it also came out with different flavors(Diet Coke with Cherry, Diet Coke with Citrus Zest) including a caffeine free version.

Target audience

Women
Zoe Howorth, market activation director for Coca-Cola Great Britain, Said:' Women are always at the heart of our Diet Coke plans and we are currently looking at how we continue to celebrate the role of women and our Diet Coke-drinkers in 2013.' On the other hand, According to Coke UK, more females drink Coke everyday other than other soft drinks brand. This proves that Diet Coke is targeted on females. However, coke did not exclude men in their advertising as they are also a part that consumes coke.

Moreover, to sell coke better, coca-cola found out that the top interest of their target audience is Fashion. 'Fashion is a top interest of our fans so we started designer collaborations to create something new and exciting for our drinkers,' said Rob Bayne, senior brand manager for Diet Coke in North West Europe and Nordics. Therefore, Diet Coke constantly partner with international fashion designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Diane Von Furstenberg and Jean Paul Gaultier(the latest creative director) to help design a special look for Diet Coke.

As above are some Coke bottle designs done by the designers. 

As a conclusion, Diet Coke is a soft drink that targets mainly female.

By Wai Ee

Road safety issue in British

In the United Kingdom, there are close to half of the population owns or have access to a bicycle. In additional, approximately 750,000 use a cycle to go to work or even to the subway station. The distanced cycled in the UK has also increased over the years from 4 billion KMs in 1998 to 5 billion KMs in 2011. Cycle use has mainly increased in the city are for instance London, cycling on main roads in 2010 was 150% higher than in 2000.

On the other hand, according to the UK government, UK has one of the best road safety records in the world. This proves that they are very concern about road safety and are doing quiet well in educating their people.

In the advertisement, there are a few obvious scenes that the actress are cycling dangerously. I understand that the scene might be shot in a studio, but the way is presented and those little things seems to be forgotten by the adverting agency. A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: " Unfortunately, advertisers do forget sometimes to make sure they are showing safe and legal behavior when someone is using the road in an advert."

Mistakes in the advertisement:
- riding at night without lights or reflectors
- riding without helmet

Below are the laws in the UK against dangerous cycling.

After sunset:
- At least one front light, which is white or yellow.
(RVLR r. 18(1);Sch 1 table 3; Sch 2 pt. 1 paras. 1, 7)

-At least one rear light, which is red.
(RVLR r. 18(1); Sch 1 table 3;Sch 10 pt. 1 paras. 1, 7)

- Lights can be flashing.
(RVLR rr. 13(1), (2)(g, h), 18(1); Sch 1 table 3; Sch 2 pt. 1 para. 12(c); Sch 10 pt. 1 para. 12(b))

- Compulsory lights. (i.e. the one front and one rear light you're required to have) need to bear the relevant British Standard mark, which depends on when the bike was manufactured. Any optional extra lights do not need a BS mark.(RVLR rr. 18(1), 20; Sch 1 table 3; Sch 2 pt. 1 paras. 5, 13; Sch 2 pt. 2 para. 3; Sch 10 pt. 1 paras. 5, 13; Sch 10 pt. 2)

- Rear reflector, which is red.
(RVLR r. 18(1); Sch 1 table 3; Sch 18 pt. 1 paras. 1(b), 7)

- two pedal reflectors one each pedal - one facing the front and one facing the rear, which have to be 'amber'

As a conclusion, this advertisement will not be this bad if they have put more attention to little details about the road safety as British concern about this topic a lot.

By Wai Ee

Power of Celebrity Endorsement in UK

Celebrity endorsement is an effective method to increase credibility, recognition, and value of the brand or the product itself. Celebrity endorsements are being used in television advertisements in almost every products and services. The use of celebrities has resulted from the associative personal qualities of attractiveness, likeability, reputation, and believability of the celebrities toward the products being endorsed (Atkin and Block 1983; Nelson 1974). Thus the products or services, which include celebrities as endorsers, can have better competitive advantages over the non-endorsers products.

In UK, celebrity endorsement can be considered as an important marketing tool to establish the credibility to the product. Celebrity endorsement affects the purchasing behavior of British people. According the recent survey conducted over a hundred people aged 20-30, 60% agreed that celebrity endorsement has impact on their purchasing behavior. Not only that, by using the right celebrity as an endorser for the marketing strategy, can actually determine the credibility and publicity of the product or service. With the same survey mentioned previously, about 25% stated that they would stop purchasing the product, if the endorser was someone they did not like (Whitehead, 2013).

Over 25% of British television advertisements are included with the appearance of celebrities (Choi, Lee and Kim, 2005). This number is comparatively higher than the number of celebrity endorsement in US, which accounts approximately 20% (Shimp, 2000). Hence, we can say, that the power of celebrity endorsement in UK as the impact on the consumers’ behavior and determine the profitability that the brand or the product can earn with the use of celebrities.  

References:

http://wallblog.co.uk/2013/06/11/infographic-what-do-young-people-think-of-celebrity-endorsements/

http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10636.pdf

http://news.liv.ac.uk/2013/03/08/celebrity-endorsement-encourages-children-to-eat-junk-food/

By Sadad

The Power of Celebrity Image

We live in a society nowadays where people like the image and idea of glamour and fame. Both which are represented through a celebrity. They are famous, successful, and rich. Who wouldn't want that kind of life? This is why advertising in all forms of media nowadays contain images of a celebrity or someone famous.

In British culture, they have one of the widest range of celebrities known worldwide. For example, David Beckham, Simon Cowell, Paul McCartney, Emma Watson, these are only a few of many. These celebrities gained fame and fortune through singing, acting, playing football, or even being a judge. Once fame and fortune has been gained, advertising companies then use these celebrities image to sell a brand or a product to their fans and targeted audiences. Fans of celebrity can be aged from as young as 5 to as old as 80 depending on who the celebrity is. Everyone looks up to a celebrity be it for their looks, fame, voice, style, accomplishments or achievements. And when we see someone famous that we know in an advertisement, we are tend to be drawn to the product subconsciously. This is because in our minds, we are drawn to the idea of how the celebrity looks in the advertisement. Their hair is fabulous, their smile is charming and their eyes are shining. In our minds, we want that, we want to look as good as that.

Emma Watson, famous British actress, in an advertisement for Burberry.

David Beckham, famous English football player, in an advertisement for H&M.

Kate Moss, famous English model, in an advertisement for Dior.

As you can see, celebrities are widely used to sell most products that we use nowadays. Clothes, accessories, food, drinks, perfume, make up, hair products, and many more brands use the image of a celebrity to persuade the audience that their product will give you or make you look like the celebrity if you buy their product. 

Using an unknown celebrity or rather a new face to sell a product would be less effective. This is evident as people who see the advertisement do not recognise who that person is, they do not know their social status. As we are bombarded with advertisements everyday, we always recognise the face of that celebrity in the advertisement. But when we are first introduced to someone unknown, it takes times before we get used to them. 

By Bryan

Body language in UK

Here I am going to describe basic body language signs used in UK culture.

      1)It is normal for people to practice right hand shaking for both opposite and same genders.
     2)It considered aggressive and not polite to make an eye contact for more than 2-3 seconds approximately. By this I mean to make an eye contact with a random stranger for a long time.3)In order to show something, people may point at someone or something. So, it is not practiced in UK society.4) It is important that you respect others privacy. So make sure you say “excuse me” if you accidentally push someone or touch someone

      5)Silence can be accepted as a problematic sign for Western culture.

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       by Mohira

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