No Crop Marks

CMAJ News Critics say UNICEF-Cadbury partnership is mere sugarwashing Published at www.cmaj.ca on Nov. 3 hough Halloween is over, the piles of loot remain. Parents of T young children will be rationing out candies, mini-chocolate bars and other sugary treats for weeks to come. On the packages of many of those treats will be an expected name: Cad- bury. Next to that name may be another that some nutrition advocates say shouldn’t be there: UNICEF. UNICEF, the United Nations Chil- dren’s Fund, is a global advocate for children and one of the most recognized charities in the world. It is also a partner with candy maker Cadbury Adams Canada Inc., which has given UNICEF $500 000 over three years to build schools in Africa. In exchange, Cadbury is allowed to put the widely recognized UNICEF logo on packaging Mulala Reuters/George for its products. Dinka tribe girls attend lessons in a girl’s school run by UNICEF in the southern Sudan. Some people don’t see anything wrong with this partnership, claiming that children are going to eat candy on According to Nestle, whose books maker. “Cadbury Adams is one of sev- Halloween anyway, and $500 000 for on nutrition include What to Eat and eral corporate supporters of UNICEF schools in Africa is much better than $0 Food Politics, sponsorship by food Canada’s seasonal Halloween awareness for schools in Africa. But some health companies is a serious issue. But cor- and fundraising campaign. UNICEF is experts believe UNICEF made a poor porate sponsorship by the food indus- proud of its 60-year association with choice by partnering with a company try — unlike say, the tobacco industry Halloween, which has grown into a that makes high-calorie food targeted at — is not subject to much scrutiny. great tradition embraced by Canadians children, especially considering that This may explain how such partner- who have raised millions of dollars to one of the charity’s causes is promoting ships as the much-criticized 2005 deal assist UNICEF in helping the world’s proper nutrition for children in devel- between the American Diabetes Asso- most vulnerable children,” Kathleen oping countries. ciation and Cadbury Schweppes, a Powderly, a UNICEF communications Critics of partnerships between indus- major producer of soft drinks, come to consultant, writes in an email. try and charity claim it is unlikely that exist. Other companies that sell high- “Funds from Cadbury Adams sup- businesses have altruistic intentions; calorie foods, such as Frito-Lay and port of the seasonal UNICEF Campaign rather, they are looking to associate them- Kentucky Fried Chicken, have associ- will go towards sending one million selves with good causes to create a “halo ated themselves with the fight against boys and girls to school in Rwanda and effect” in the hopes of improving sales. breast cancer, a tactic that has been Malawi. UNICEF’s logo, along with “These are eat-more, sell-more strate- labelled “pinkwashing.” information about the work UNICEF is gies,” says Marion Nestle, a professor of But health messages from business doing in Africa, thanks in part to the nutrition, food studies and public health people whose business is junk food can generosity of Canadians, appears on at New York University in New York be hard to swallow. “It’s not because Cadbury Adams Halloween specific City. “It is sugarwashing. It sends a these people are evil,” says Nestle. “It’s product packaging.” message that if you buy this candy, you because their job is to sell more product.” Likewise, Cadbury is proud of its are doing good for uneducated kids in UNICEF, however, sees no problem partnership with UNICEF. “Cadbury is Africa.” with accepting funds from a candy pleased to support UNICEF in their CMAJ•DECEMBER 14, 2010 • 182(18) E813 © 2010 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors News efforts to raise awareness of children’s store. The School House Project was the could come at the cost of damage to its needs in many developing countries name of our 2009 Halloween program good name, says Nestle. “They have to around the world,” Michelle Lefler, a that united communities across Canada decide what’s more important to them,” Cadbury spokesperson, writes in an in an effort to virtually ‘build’ schools she says. “Is the money more impor- email. “Cadbury currently promotes for children in Africa, as part of tant than their reputation?” — Roger UNICEF’s great work during the Hal- UNICEF’s Schools for Africa program.” Collier, CMAJ loween season, as seen on our current Though UNICEF gained a half- Halloween products, now available in million dollars from the partnership, it DOI:10.1503/cmaj.109-3720 E814 CMAJ•DECEMBER 14, 2010 • 182(18).

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