The retailer has been in talks with senior Department of Health (DoH) officials about the marketing activity it could run in support of the campaign. A DoH spokeswoman confirmed that discussions had taken place.
The Change4Life initiative aims to combat obesity through partnerships with commercial and not-for-profit organisations. Unlike most of Change4Life's other commercial partners, M&S has liaised directly with the government, rather than going through the Business4Life consortium.
The retailer's commitment to Change4Life comes as it steps up activity around its ethical 'Plan A' initiative. Last week it launched a campaign called 'Doing the right thing,' which aims to remind customers of its ethical credentials. The push is running across print, online, radio and in-store.
Plan A, which launched two years ago, is built on five pillars, one of which is to help customers and employees live healthier lifestyle. Becoming a Change4Life partner would help M&S meet this aim by its target date of 2012.
At the halfway point of Plan A, M&S reported that 39 of its 100 commitments had been achieved. Of these, 24 have been extended to cover more ambitious targets.
Other supermarket partners of Change4Life include Tesco, Asda and The Co-operative.
Several brands have suffered delays to activity backing Change4Life due to a lack of on-pack and promotional guidelines (Marketing, 3 June). Nestle Waters' Pure Life bottled water brand, cereal maker Kellogg and Mars are among those to have been affected.
According to the government-commissioned Fore-sight Report into obesity, 90% of today's children will be overweight and at risk from serious diseases by 2050 unless there is positive intervention.
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