ABSTRACT
The knowledge produced by social marketing perpetuates some of the most powerful discourses around physical activity. To understand these discourses requires an unravelling of the planning and design phase of a campaign which is rarely done. We follow the chain of evidence from scientific facts and epidemiological data as it is translated and transformed through preventive health experts and marketing departments to produce a campaign. We ask three questions. What scientific evidence is cited in public health campaigns about physical activity? How does that evidence change at each stage of the planning and delivery process? And what is gained and lost once it becomes the final product of the campaign? We trace this process backwards from the messages and strategies of three campaigns from Australia and the UK.
