Teens, Lawmakers, and Groups to Launch "Flatten Big Soda" Billboard in Times Square

As corporations spend billions targeting children with oversweetened, unhealthy products, and diet-related diseases continue to rise, advocates demand state action to protect New York families with new billboard

NEW YORK, NY (07/21/2026) (readMedia)-- On Thursday, in Times Square at the cross-section of dozens of ads for soda and energy drink products, more than a dozen leading health advocates, lawmakers, doctors, and community groups will launch a billboard for "Flatten Big Soda," a campaign to make sugary drink ads history.

Last year, Big Soda spent $11 billion marketing products high in sugar, and disproportionately targeting communities of color with aggressive campaigns. Research shows that Black and Latino children are exposed to significantly more junk food advertising than their white peers. These same communities often face a higher concentration of fast food restaurants, where menu items routinely exceed recommended limits of sugar and other nutrients of concern, contributing to poor diet quality and increasing the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.

Watch the livestream here.

WHO:

Center for Science in the Public Interest, Interfaith Public Health Network, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, Altagracia Faith and Justice Works, Chilis on Wheels, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan NY, Rochester Food Policy Council, Rochester Healthy Kids Coalition, Teens for Food Justice, Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center, Muslim Community Network, Sapna NYC, Youth Voice One Vision: The Rochester Mayor's Youth Advisory Council
WHAT:

A press conference in Times Square unveiling the new “Flatten Big Soda” public health billboard to make sugary drink ads history.
WHEN: Thursday July 23, 2026 at 03:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
WHERE: In front of 1530 Broadway,
New York, New York 10018
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