In 2023, 42 state attorneys general sued Meta to remove Instagram features that Meta's own studies had shown —and independent research had confirmed—are harmful to teenage girls. The same year, a report from the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise found gun manufacturers were targeting the youth market with eye-catching ads and product placements in video games. And in the run-up to the Paris Olympics, a leading international health journal urged the International Olympic Committee to end its relationship with Coca-Cola because of the increased obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure associated with sugary drinks.
Social media, guns, sugar: These are all examples of what we call "market-driven epidemics." When people think of epidemics, they might think they're caused only by viruses or other germs. But as public health experts , we know that's just part of the story.
Commerce can cause epidemics, too. That's why our team coined the phrase in a recent study because you can't solve a problem without naming it. Market-driven epidemics follow a familiar script.
First, companies start selling an appealing, often addictive product. As more and more people start using it, the health harms become clearer. Yet even as evidence of damage grows and deaths pile up, sales continue to rise as companies resist efforts by health authorities, consumer groups and others to control them.
We see this pattern with many products today, including social media platforms, firearms, sug.