Snacking Makes you Immune to Advertising?

Photo credit: Alamy via the Huffington Post

Is there actually a benefit to munchin' in front of the tube?

According to an article in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, when you watch a commercial your brain "unconsciously practices how to say the name (even if you are not actually mouthing the words)". However, when you are chewing your "mouth cannot subtly whisper the products name". This prevents the brand from taking residence in your brain. This doesn't just work with snacking, but also chewing gum, or talking... but the catch is that it only works for brands that you are not familiar with... interesting!

So while we are told that eating mindlessly while watching sitcoms may not be good for our waistlines, it may help our wallets!

Now is it the same for kids not "wanting" something they see on TV just because they happen to be eating some Cheerios at the same time? Who knows, I don't really want to test that theory!


Topolinski, S., et al., Popcorn in the cinema: Oral interference sabotages advertising effects, Journal of Consumer Psychology (2013),

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-10-popcorn-cinema-oral-sabotages-advertising.html#jCp