Abstract:
The obesity epidemic is not just a public health crisis — it is a battle between medicine and marketing, where billion-dollar industries exploit neuroscience to override biology. While doctors work to treat obesity with medical interventions, food marketers weaponize neuromarketing to keep consumers addicted to ultra-processed foods. By strategically manipulating brain chemistry through branding, packaging, and advertising, they create cravings and compulsions that medical interventions alone cannot fully address.
My lived experience spans both sides of this battle. For 40 years, I struggled with food addiction and obesity, unknowingly trapped in a cycle fueled by psychological triggers I couldn’t see. At the same time, I spent four decades working for some of the most powerful names in advertising and media, learning firsthand how brands use neuroscience to influence human behavior and consumer choices. This unique perspective allows me to expose the hidden strategies that keep people hooked and explain why conventional weight loss solutions often fail.
Doctors and healthcare professionals must recognize that they are not just treating obesity — they are fighting an industry that actively undermines their efforts. This talk will reveal the sophisticated marketing tactics that override willpower, challenge conventional thinking about obesity treatment, and offer strategies to help patients break free. Understanding the power of neuromarketing is essential to developing more effective, sustainable interventions for lasting weight loss and true recovery from food addiction and obesity.
