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Table 1 Description of different corporate political activity strategies of the food industry

From: Corporate political activity of the baby food industry: the example of Nestlé in the United States of America

Instrumental Strategies

Practices

Mechanisms

Coalition management

Constituency recruitment - Establish relationships with key opinion leaders and health organisations

Promote public-private interactions with health and consumers organisations, among others

Support professional organisations, including through their funding and / or advertising in their publications

Establish informal relationships with key opinion leaders

Support the placement of industry-friendly personnel within health organisations

Constituency recruitment - Seek involvement in the community

Undertake corporate philanthropy

Support physical activity initiatives

Support events (for youth, arts, etc.) and community-level initiatives

Constituency recruitment - Establish relationships with the media

Establish close relationships with the media, journalists and bloggers, to facilitate media advocacy

Constituency recruitment - internal

Establish relationships with other actors in the industry

Constituency fabrication

Establish fake grassroots organisations (‘astroturfing’)

Procure the support of community and business groups to oppose public health measures

Opposition fragmentation and destabilisation

Discredit public health advocates personally and publicly

Infiltrate and monitor the operations and advocacy strategies of public health organisations and advocates

Create antagonism between health professionals

Information management

Production

Fund research, including through academics, ghost writers, own research institutions and front groups

Amplification

Cherry pick data that favours the industry, including through the use of non-peer reviewed or unpublished evidence

Participate in and host scientific events

Propose industry-sponsored education

Suppression

Suppress the dissemination of research that does not fit the industry’s interests

Emphasise disagreement among scientists

Criticise evidence, and emphasise its complexity and uncertainty

Credibility

Fronting: conceal industry links to information or evidence, including through the use of scientists serving as advisers, consultants or spokespersons

Direct involvement and influence in policy

Indirect access

Lobby directly and indirectly (through third parties) to influence legislation and regulation so that it is favourable to the industry

Use the “revolving door”, i.e. ex-food industry staff goes to work in the government, and vice versa

Incentives

Fund and provide financial incentives to political parties and policy makers (donations, gifts, entertainment or other financial inducements)

Threats

Threaten to withdraw investments if new public health policies are introduced

Actor in government decision making

Seek involvement in working groups, technical groups and advisory groups

Provide technical support and advice to policy-makers

Legal actions

Use legal action (or the threat thereof) against public policies or opponents

Litigate or threaten to litigate against governments, public health professionals and other institutions or individuals

Influence the development of trade and investment agreements

Influence the development of trade and investment agreements to include clauses favourable to the industry (limited trade restrictions, mechanisms for corporations to sue governments, etc.)

Discursive strategies

Domain

Argument

The economy

Stress the number of jobs supported and the money generated for the economy

Governance

Demonise the ‘nanny state’

Expected food industry costs

Claim that proposed policy will lead to a reduction in sales/jobs

Claim that cost of compliance will be high for the industry

Frame the debate on diet- and public health-related issues

Stress the good traits of the food industry

Shift the blame away from the food industry and its products: focus on individual responsibility, the role of parents, physical inactivity, etc.

Promote industry’s preferred solutions: education, information, balanced diets, etc.

  1. Legend: Adapted from [8, 10]