Messages recommending that consumers should 'eat at least five fruit and vegetables a day' to improve their health could be counter-productive, according to researchers at the Grenoble School of Management in southeastern France, L'Express reported.
One researcher, Carolina Werle, said that the current messages served as a justification for people to eat more sugary and fatty foods instead of encouraging them to eat more healthily.
'One part of the study involved showing participants an advertisement for a hamburger, with or without the message of prevention,' said Werle. 'Participants were then asked to choose between an ice cream and a bag of fruit. Those who saw the ad with the health message made less healthy choices than those who saw it without.'
One solution, she suggested, could be to separate the health message from the advertisement, inserting the message before or after the ad instead.
Meanwhile, the use of images could form a larger part of future advertising, she said, following its success in anti-smoking campaigns.
