Advertising "fast food" will no longer

be allowed on our buses? Oh wait a minute that also includes any food which might be considered potentially bad for you? 

I am quite happy with the idea of removing soft drinks, flavoured milks and sweets or chips (crisps) from strategic points in supermarkets. It bothers me that they are there and clearly intended to tempt you or, more likely, the young, while you wait to check out the healthy things. The psychology of all that is exquisite.

But is banning the advertising of everything considered "unhealthy" really healthy? Is it really going to make people eat less of these things? Might it actually have the reverse effect?  

I cannot claim to be entirely immune to advertising because nobody is. I can claim to be "aware" of it and know something about it and how it works. I can admire a "clever" advertisement but know I will never buy the product. I am also well aware that if I happen to prowl down the aisle which sells ice cream and ice cream happens to be "on special" then I will be tempted. I rather like ice cream.  This has nothing to do with "advertising" as such  because I will also be "tempted" by a "two for one deal" on something I use on a regular basis.  

As far as the advertising on buses is concerned though I doubt I could tell you anything which is being advertised on a bus. I am too busy watching where the bus is going and trying to judge the speed. Is that what it is like for the driver of a car? I have to assume it is. So, who is the advertising for? I suppose it is for the driver stuck behind a bus in traffic and the passengers waiting or the pedestrians walking. Advertising on buses must pay because I know it is expensive but is it really that efficient? Perhaps it is more efficient and cheaper than that slick fifteen second clip on television or the noisy jingle on radio? Other people know about these things.

What I believe though is that banning the advertising of the things listed is not going to do much for lowering the level of their consumption. The supermarket I generally shop in has an entire aisle devoted to biscuits (both savory and sweet) and "lollies" of various types. It has another entire aisle devoted to soft drinks, "water" of various types and salty "snacks". Away from those aisles there are cakes and cakes mixes, breads of little food value, fruit juice and half an aisle of ice cream and desserts. This supermarket also has less than many others. At one end there is a "deli" with the cured meats and other things that buses can no longer advertise. 

In between all that is a fruit and vegetable section where the produce is usually fresh and good quality. In a way it is the most expensive area in the supermarket.  Items bought here have a short "shelf life". They are much more labour intensive both for the shop and the buyer. People are buying these things, of course they are. It is just that their trolleys will not be overflowing with them. The cost is seen as too high.

It is not the advertising on buses we need to be concerned about but the availability and the cost of the "good food". Even then how many of us have the strength to resist the equivalent of ice cream on special?