Common factors of Addiction Economy business models
#AddictionEconomy Thought for Today - How the business models of addiction economy companies are the same, and the political ideologies and regulatory failings also similar.
Henry Dimbleby in his brilliant multi-stakeholder co-created National Food Strategy (which the government totally ignored) called for hashtag#ultraprocessedfoods to be treated like hashtag#cigarettes. In this article about the costs of obesity 86% of people in a poll in The Times agree that 'smoking-style restrictions should be placed on junk food'
Times article paywalled here: https://lnkd.in/dBtz-uEE
A new report from the Tony Blair Institute shows why he was right. The cost to the NHS is now £19.2 billion per year, wider social costs of £25.1 billion and a total cost of £98 billion, including the £63 billion cost of shorter unhealthier lives, equivalent to 4% of GDP.
Here are the common factors:
1. Ultra-processed food is a fairly newly recognised hashtag #addiction economy product which uses deliberate addictive techniques (DATs) in this case understanding of how the human mind and digestive system works, product formulation and behavioural psychology in marketing, not just to entice, but to addict customers, to the benefit of the company and detriment of the customer.
2. The blame is focused squarely on the individual for being greedy and lazy with no self control and no responsibility or accountability falls on the addictors.
3. Solutions are mainly are focused on the Pharma industry inventing new drugs - eg Wegovy, with unknown side-effects. (See previous, for the UK non-smoking strategy which is focused only on vapes and non-pharma solutions resisted).
4. Political ideologies get in the way of real solutions. Concerns about 'nanny-statism' and libertarian concerns prevent practical solutions.
5. As with all addiction economy products (see also hashtag#gambling, hashtag#alcohol , hashtag#socialmedia, hashtag#computergames, hashtag#vapes and still cigarettes) treating the symptoms not changing the system conditions that allowed them to flourish allows the companies to keep making money at the expense of individuals and society.
Joe Woof and I quite excited to see here how this 'Addiction Economy' model we are uncovering really does shed some useful light on the problems and solutions. More to come!
https://lnkd.in/dKn9Mb5f