Philadelphia Beverage Tax's Impact on Beverage Ad Expenditures and Number of Ads Purchased

Sophia V Hua; Matthew M Lee; Rebecca Mozaffarian; Sara N Bleich; Christina A Roberto; Frances Fleming-Milici; Briana Stephenson; Erica L Kenney

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2024.03.011

Philadelphia Beverage Tax's Impact on Beverage Ad Expenditures and Number of Ads Purchased

Am J Prev Med. 2024 Mar 19:S0749-3797(24)00101-6. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.03.011. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Sophia V Hua¹, Matthew M Lee², Rebecca Mozaffarian², Sara N Bleich³, Christina A Roberto⁴, Frances Fleming-Milici⁵, Briana Stephenson⁶, Erica L Kenney²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: sophia.hua@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
² Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
³ Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
⁴ Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
⁵ UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health, University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut.
⁶ Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.

PMID: 38508426
DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.03.011

Abstract

Introduction: On January 1, 2017, Philadelphia implemented a beverage excise tax. The study's objective was to determine whether beverage advertising expenditures and the number of beverage ads purchased changed in Philadelphia compared to Baltimore because of this tax.

Methods: Monthly beverage ad expenditures and the number of beverage ads purchased by brand from January 2016 through December 2019 were obtained. Ads were coded as being for taxed or not taxed beverages and analyzed in 2023. The primary outcomes were quarterly taxed beverage ad expenditures and number of ads purchased. A controlled interrupted time series design on segmented linear regression models was used. Models (aggregated and stratified by internet, spot TV, and local radio) compared whether levels and trends in the outcomes changed from pre- to post-tax in Philadelphia compared to Baltimore.

Results: There were no significant differences in taxed beverage advertising expenditures between Philadelphia and Baltimore for trends pretax, at implementation, or post-tax. There were 0.13 (95% CI: -0.25, -0.003) fewer quarterly taxed beverage ads purchased per 100 households in Philadelphia versus Baltimore at baseline. Among internet advertising, there were 0.42 (95% CI: -0.77, -0.06) fewer quarterly taxed beverage ads purchased per 100 households in Philadelphia versus Baltimore immediately post-tax. For spot TV ads, the percentage of taxed beverages ads purchased per quarter was greater at baseline in Philadelphia by 28.0 percentage points (95% CI: 1.9, 54.1).

Conclusions: This study found little evidence of changes in mass media advertising on the examined platforms between 2016 and 2019 due to the Philadelphia beverage tax.