| The report was written about marketing done by 44 companies in a number of industries: beverage manufacturers and bottlers; companies that produce packaged food such as snacks, baked goods, cereals, and prepared meals; makers of candy and chilled desserts; dairy marketers; fruit and vegetable growers; and quick-service restaurants (QSRs). They were chosen because their products are the ones most frequently marketed to kids (ages 2-11) and teens (ages 12-17). Together, the 44 companies spent over $1.6 billion marketing to kids in 2006. About $570 million targeted kids, over $700 million targeted teens, and $300 million targeted both.
Nearly 2/3 of the money was spent marketing sodas and cereal. (In the time since this report was first published, Yale's Rudd Center published its own report on breakfast cereal marketing to children, finding that none of the major brands of children's cereal would be healthy enough to legally market to kids on TV in the UK.)
A little over half of the money was spent on "traditional media" (TV, radio, print), with nearly all of that was spent on TV. Here's the breakdown:
TV - 46% of all spending
Print & Rado - 7%
Online - 5%
Toys and Prizes - 4%*
In-store displays and packaging - 12%
In school marketing - 11% (mostly beverages)
Other - 15%**
*This does not include Happy Meal toys or other similar fast food toy give-aways because the customer technically purchases those toys. If those were included, the amount spent in this category would be double what it is.
** Other includes "event and athletic sponsorships; celebrity endorsement fees; movie theater, video, and video game ads; product placements in movies, television, and video games; cross-promotion licensing fees; and promotional activities conducted in connection with philanthropic endeavors."
Altogether, across all of these kinds of marketing, 13% of the total marketing budget was for "cross-promotion" - i.e. marketing food along with some character, movie, or TV show (like Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets). That's the kind of marketing that REALLY makes me mad. Kids get so into their favorite characters... the little one in my life has Ariel PJs, an Ariel pillowcase, two Ariel dolls, the DVD of the Little Mermaid, a Little Mermaid book, etc. If you put Ariel on a food, she'll want to eat it, and marketers exploit that. The answer is to either keep TV and movies out of the house or perhaps just not bring the child to the grocery store. Either option is difficult and perhaps unrealistic. People want to let their kids have fun, and that often includes TV and movies. We're trying to limit the TV due to the commercials but still allowing movies. And I don't know who in their right mind would want to bring a 3 year old to the grocery store, but sometimes you have no choice.
Here are the recommendations the report made to the companies. Be warned... they are totally lame:
General:
- All companies that market food or beverage products to children should adopt and adhere to meaningful nutrition-based standards for marketing their products to children under 12. A useful first step would be to join the CBBB Initiative.
- Companies should broadly construe "marketing" to include all advertising and promotional techniques, including but not limited to: advertising on television and radio, in print media, and on the Internet (including third-party and company-sponsored websites); product packaging and labeling; advertising preceding a movie shown in a movie theater or placed on a video (DVD or VHS) or within a video game; promotional content transmitted to personal computers and other digital or mobile devices; advertising displays and promotions at the retail site; specialty or premium items distributed in connection with the sale of a product; promotion or sponsorship of public entertainment events; product placements; character licensing, toy co-branding and cross-promotions; sponsorship of sports teams or individual athletes;word-of-mouth and viral marketing; celebrity endorsements; and in-school marketing.
- In cases where a product line contains some product varieties that meet the nutrition-based standard and others that do not, companies should strictly limit all components of a promotion or advertising campaign directed to children under 12 to those varieties that meet the standard. Thus, for example, television or print advertisements promoting a sweepstakes would feature only the "better for you" varieties of the product, and licensed characters would appear only on packages of the "better for you" varieties.
- Companies should consider limiting branded merchandise intended for children to products or brand lines meeting meaningful nutrition-based standards.
Improving the Nutritional Profile of Product Offerings:
- Companies should continue and increase efforts to improve the nutritional profiles of their products - especially those marketed to children and adolescents - through product innovation and reformulation.
- Companies should improve upon the nutritional criteria adopted for "better for you" products as they find ways to lower sugar, fat, sodium, etc., without sacrificing taste and appeal.
- In applicable cases, companies should re-examine whether the fact that a product has "less" of, or is "reduced" in, calories or certain nutrients (e.g., sodium, sugar, or fat) is, by itself, a sufficient basis for qualifying as a "better for you" product.
- Companies should continue and expand efforts to package more nutritious products in ways that are more appealing to children.
- Companies should continue efforts to use product packaging to help consumers control portion sizes and calories, by offering smaller portions and single-serving packages.
Nutrition Labeling:
- Companies should conduct research on the effectiveness of various labeling devices to determine how consumers interpret such labeling and to identify those devices most effective at conveying meaningful, truthful information.
- Companies should work toward consistency among the standards used by individual food and beverage companies to determine what constitutes a "better for you" product, such as through the development and use of third-party standards, icons, or other devices. The Commission supports the work of the Keystone Center and others
in this regard.
Healthy Messages:
- Companies should expand public outreach efforts - through company-sponsored initiatives, third-party partnerships, and innovative and varied media techniques - to educate children and adolescents about the importance of healthy eating and exercise.
- Companies should devote particular attention to outreach aimed at ethnic minority populations that are disproportionately affected by childhood overweight and obesity.
- Companies should continue researching the effectiveness of their campaigns to educate and motivate youth to engage in healthier lifestyles.
The Cobb Initiative:
- The CBBB should closely monitor participating companies' compliance with their pledges.
- The CBBB and participating companies should enhance the Initiative in the following ways:
- Expand the scope of "advertising to children" to encompass all advertising and promotional techniques, including, for example, product packaging and in-store marketing;
- Require that 100% of food advertising directed to children under 12 promotes healthy dietary choices;
- In cases where a product line contains some product varieties that meet a company's nutrition criteria for a "healthy dietary choice" and others that do not, the company should strictly limit all components of a promotion or advertising campaign directed to children under 12 to those varieties that meet the criteria. Thus, for example, television or print advertisements promoting a sweepstakes would feature only the varieties of the product that represent healthy dietary choices, and licensed characters would appear only on packages of the varieties that are healthy dietary choices.
- Work toward standardizing the nutrition criteria for "healthy dietary choices" that may be marketed to children, such as by product category (e.g., for beverages, cereals, snack foods, soups, canned pastas, frozen entrees, etc.);
- In applicable cases, companies should re-examine whether the fact that a product has "less" of, or is "reduced" in, calories or certain nutrients (e.g., sodium, sugar, or fat) is, by itself, a sufficient basis for qualifying as a "healthy dietary choice";
- Work toward developing meaningful, standardized definitions for what constitutes advertising "directed to children under 12." In considering how to define "directed to children," the CBBB and participating companies should consider, where relevant to the advertising medium, factors such as the percentage of the audience under 12; the total number of children reached; the time of day and venue in which the
advertising appears; and whether the advertising features characters, performers, or celebrities who are popular with children, or contains themes, language, or other attributes designed to appeal to children.
- Require companies not to engage in, approve, or allow placement of their product in media directed to children under 12;
- Require participating companies to ensure that their franchisees are bound by the companies' pledge commitments, such as by incorporating the pledge commitments into any franchisee contracts.
Foods & Beverages in Schools:
- Companies should continue efforts to improve the nutritional profile of foods and beverages sold in schools.
- All companies that sell "competitive" food or beverage products in schools should join the Alliance for a Healthier Generation or otherwise adopt and adhere to meaningful nutrition-based standards for foods and beverages sold in schools, such as those recommended by the Institute of Medicine.
- Participating companies should consider incorporating their Alliance commitments into distributor contracts.
- Companies should cease all in-school promotion of products that do not meet meaningful nutrition-based standards.
- Commission encourages schools and school districts, as part of their school wellness policies, to adopt and implement meaningful nutrition-based standards for competitive foods sold in schools.
Recommendations for Media and Entertainment Companies
- More media and entertainment companies should limit the licensing of their characters to healthier foods and beverages that are marketed to children, so that cross-promotions with popular children's movies and television characters will favor the more, rather than the less, nutritious foods and drinks.
- Media companies should consider adopting uniform, objective standards that limit advertising placements on programs "directed to children" to healthier food and beverage products.
- Media and entertainment companies should continue to incorporate health and nutrition messages into programming and editorial content, and to create public education campaigns aimed at the problem of childhood obesity.
- Media and entertainment companies should test the effectiveness of any health and nutrition messages and public education campaigns aimed at the problem of childhood obesity.
- Media and entertainment companies should consider the feasibility of instituting a self-regulatory initiative to facilitate implementation of the recommendations above. The companies should consider working with the CBBB in this endeavor.
This idea of corporations taking responsibility in a voluntary manner is entirely bogus. The government has the power to regulate and it should use it. The casualties in this case are our kids, the most vulnerable members of our society. The weak recommendations given here are entirely unacceptable. The government should recognize that the fake foods promoted by corporations - even the "better-for-you" ones - are not what our children should be eating. In our household, we told our seven-year-old a very simple guideline for food: If you see an advertisement for it, it's probably not good for you. And given that that's the case, it's insane that the government should continue to allow so much advertising targeting young children.
So, with that, here's what's on the agenda on December 15. Let's hope that all of the academics scheduled to speak have enough sense not to endorse the BS recommendations in the earlier FTC report!
8:45 Welcome and Introduction
9:00 Keynote
Remarks by Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
9:30 Presentations: New Research on Food Marketing to Children
These presentations will showcase research on the impact of various food advertising techniques on children's food choices.
Moderator: David Britt, retired President and CEO, Sesame Workshop
Dr. Jennifer Harris
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity
Yale University
Dr. Inas Rashad Kelly
Queens College
City University of New York
Dr. Dick Mizerski
University of Western Australia
Dr. Kathryn Montgomery
School of Communication
American University
10:45 Discussion
Moderator: David Britt and Pauline Ippolito, Deputy Director, Bureau of Economics, FTC
11:00 Break
11:15 Panel: Advertising to Children and the First Amendment
This panel will discuss the legal ramifications of restricting advertising to children.
Moderator: David Vladeck, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC
Dan Jaffe
Executive Vice President
Government Relations
Association of National Advertisers
Martin Redish
Professor of Law and Public Policy
Northwestern University School of Law
Tamara Piety
Associate Professor of Law
University of Tulsa
David Yosifon
Assistant Professor
Santa Clara University Law School
12:15 Questions from the Audience
12:30 Lunch (on your own)
1:30 Panel: Self-Regulatory Initiatives
This panel will showcase presentations on the food and entertainment industries' self-regulatory efforts to impose nutritional standards on their marketing to children and adolescents.
Moderator: Mary K. Engle, Associate Director, Advertising Practices, FTC
Dr. Dale Kunkel
Professor of Communication
University of Arizona
Dr. Margo Wootan
Director of Nutrition Policy
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Dr. Elizabeth Taylor Quilliam
Assistant Professor
Department of Advertising, Public Relations & Retailing
Michigan State University
Jennifer Anopolsky
Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility
The Walt Disney Company
Mary Sophos
Senior Vice President
Chief Government Affairs Officer
Grocery Manufacturers Association
Elaine D. Kolish
Vice President and Director
Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative
Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.
3:00 Break
3:15 Presentation & Town Hall Discussion: Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children
This panel will report on the status of recommended nutritional standards for foods marketed to children. A town hall discussion will follow the presentation.
Moderator: Michelle Rusk, Senior Attorney, Advertising Practices, FTC
Dr. William H. Dietz
Director
Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control
Dr. Barbara Schneeman
Director, Office of Nutrition, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements
Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition
Food and Drug Administration
Dr. Robert C. Post
Deputy Director
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
4:45 Next Steps/Adjourn
Remarks by David Vladeck, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC |
