Tag: advertising
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FTC Creates Website to Educate Children About Advertising for Foods and Other Products
Featuring colorful graphics purporting to hawk products ranging from sugar-sweetened cereals and acne medication to sporting goods and meals sold at fast-food restaurants, a new website created by the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Bureau of Consumer Protection seeks to provide children with the tools they need to properly understand and assess commercial speech. Designed for…
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Fourth Circuit Upholds Alcohol Ad Restrictions in Virginia’s College Publications
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has turned aside a First Amendment challenge to a state law restricting advertisements for alcoholic beverages in college student publications. Educ. Media Co. v. Swecker, No. 08-1798 (4th Cir., corrected decision filed April 19, 2010). The restrictions at issue did not allow advertisements for alcohol in any college publication…
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Researchers Find Young Children Aware of Popular Brands
A recent psychology study has reportedly suggested that children younger than age 5 “have emerging knowledge of brands that are relevant in their lives.” Anna McAllister and T. Bettina Cornwell, “Children’s Brand Symbolism Understanding: Links to Theory of Mind and Executive Functioning,” Psychology & Marketing, March 2010. Noting previous research suggesting that “brand symbolism understanding…
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CSPI Faults Most Food, Entertainment Companies for Food Marketing to Kids
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has issued a report card that rates 128 companies for their policies on marketing food to children. According to CSPI, most of the food makers, restaurants and entertainment companies failed “either for having weak policies or for failing to have any policies whatsoever.” Based on research…
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Rudd Center Publishes Study on Point-of-Sale Marketing
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has published a study alleging that the “number of products with youth-oriented cross-promotions increased by 78 percent” between 2006 and 2008. Jennifer Harris, et al., “Marketing foods to children and adolescents: licensed characters and other promotions on packaged foods in the supermarket,” Public Health Nutrition, March…
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Federal Government Focuses Attention on Obesity; Childhood Obesity Articles Proliferate
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions conducted a hearing March 4, 2010, to address childhood obesity. Among those testifying was U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, who provided an overview of the “epidemic,” examples of successful individual and community interventions and recent federal initiatives to “help Americans achieve optimal health.” She claimed that keeping…
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Organic Industry Watchdog Challenges Ethics and Accuracy of Bread Marketing Claims
The Cornucopia Institute has written to the CEOs of Sara Lee and National Public Radio to express its concerns with the marketing campaign for Sara Lee’s EarthGrains® products. In its February 22, 2010, letter, the institute refers to a study it made of the claims and calls for Sara Lee to “immediately suspend promotional activities…
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Stephanie Clifford, “A Fine Line When Ads and Children Mix,” The New York Times, February 15, 2010
This article claims that recent efforts to monitor and regulate marketing to children has had “an interesting side effect,” that is, a shift away from traditional tactics to “games, contests and events where the advertiser has only a subtle presence— exactly the opposite of what some of the advocacy groups were aiming for.” According to…