How TikTok Influencers Disclose Food and Beverage Brand Partnerships: Descriptive Study

Among the food and beverage videos with disclosures we identified, the most frequently used mechanism-tagging the brand-did not clearly differentiate between sponsored content and the influencer trying to attract a brand or followers who may like that brand. Social media users, particularly adolescents, need clearer, more robust disclosures from influencers to protect against the undue influence of food marketing. These findings may also inform calls for the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative-the largest self-regulatory pledge to reduce unhealthy food marketing-to include older adolescents, who are heavily targeted by food and beverage companies on social media.