While food remains the most heavily advertised product category, empirical
research into food advertising effects is relatively scarce. Two widely rec
ognized advertising research measures are recall and liking. We analyze 1,0
22 food commercials and examine differences between food categories on the
basis of gender, liking, verified recall, commercial length, media weight,
and flighting. Findings suggest that women like and recall food advertising
more than men do, and pet foods, fats, oils, and sugars and condiments are
the most recalled and liked advertisements. Liking accounts for a large pr
oportion of the variance in in-market recall, followed to a much lesser deg
ree, by ad length. Implications are discussed, limitations noted, and direc
tions for future research offered.