Soft drinks, obesity and corporate power: the Australian soft drink industry’s political strategy to position itself as “part of the solution” to obesity

Abstract

Background Soft drink corporations face scrutiny from governments and public health experts for the contribution of their products to obesity and non-communicable diseases. Historically, the soft drink industry sought to deny the contribution of its products to the incidence of obesity and undermine public health policies that it perceived as threatening. This oppositional strategy has evolved into a more conciliatory approach, in which the soft drink industry has sought to position itself as “part of the solution” to obesity though the implementation of corporate health promotion strategies. This thesis begins with the proposition that, like lobbying and more overtly oppositional political ..