Download Larkins Roosevelt Larkins English 1001 Professor Andrus Spring

Larkins
Roosevelt Larkins
English 1001
Professor Andrus
Spring Term 2014
Food Advertising to Children
There is focus upon advertising and children for two broad reasons. First, it is because children
are children, and are considered separately. Second, it is because children will become adults.
Advertising therefore effects behavior during childhood and continues to do so into adulthood.
Advertising to children rarely receives a good press, and it remains a controversial topic in the
wider domain. Young people view more than 40,000 ads per year on television alone and
increasingly are being exposed to advertising on the Internet, in magazines, and in schools. This
exposure may contribute significantly to childhood and adolescent obesity, poor nutrition, and
cigarette and alcohol use. Media education has been shown to be effective in decreasing some of
the negative effects of advertising on children and adolescents. Research has shown that young
children younger than 8 years are cognitively and psychologically defenseless against
advertising. Advertisements from Major companies target children on their ads for a variety of
reasons. Children are more likely to be swindled by the ads for sugary foods endorsed by
athletes. By pro athletes being role models to kids companies hire them to sell their products.
McDonald's and Sprite are endorsed by LeBron James from the NBA. Gatorade and Pepsi-Cola
are by Peyton Manning from the NFL. Kraft Oreo cookies and Gatorade are endorsed by tennis
player Serena Williams. Gatorade and Tim Hortons are endorsed by NHL player Sidney Crosby.
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Some of the biggest stars in professional sports are endorsing unhealthy food companies and
selling children sugary foods and drinks. The more recognizable the face and the amount of
power that comes along with that should be the reason children eating healthy is a priority. Each
The NFL and NBA both have programs encouraging children to get out and exercise to live
healthy lives but the sport’s biggest stars contradict themselves. In one ad they are selling sugary
foods and drinks for major companies and then tell the same children to get out and play to live a
healthier lifestyle and to get active. Marie Bragg of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity
in New Haven, Conn., and her co-authors found 79 per cent of the 62 food products in
advertisements endorsed by athletes were dense in calories and poor in nutrients, based on a
nutrient profile used to assess whether products can be advertised to children in the United
Kingdom (3). 93 percent of the 46 commercials for beverages 100 percent of those beverages
calories were added by sugar. Selling these beverages and food to children that have yet to
develop their own eating habits are teaching them unhealthy ways to eat or drink.
Children being influenced by these ads convince their parents to buy them these foods. Without
exercise and a healthy lifestyle these ads marketing foods high in fat leads to childhood obesity.
Childhood obesity is a major problem effecting the United States. This is alarming because once
gained, it is very difficult to get rid of extra weight, and obesity is associated with an increased
risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, and with a lower life expectancy. Children
are now heavier than before and with more kids spending time in doors watching television they
take in more ads. More ads mean more money being spent by parents on foods that are not
healthy. In addition to using athletes popular cartoon characters are used to make the product
seem “kid friendly” and can include catchy songs, bright colors, and animals. It is known that
there is a link between the ads of companies marketing to children and the rise of childhood
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obesity Marketers use a variety of techniques to attract audiences to increase product purchases.
Traditional marketing techniques in television commercials include repetition, branded
characters, catchy and interesting production features, celebrity endorsements. Recently
marketers have begun to use even more complicated techniques of getting children to see their
ad. Stealth advertising, in which marketers attempt to conceal the intent of an ad. The idea
behind the new technique for marketers is to get the advertising across without the consumer
being aware that they are indeed viewing an advertisement. Stealth marketing is only through the
internet and in an attempt to grab the attention of children companies use embed online
characters to get children’s attention. With hopes of getting children familiar with the product
and the idea or the marketers is to foster loyalty to their specific brand. Repetition of songs or
phrases in commercials to get the consumer familiar with the product and feel comfortable
spending money with a brand they know. Familiar characters from television networks whose
programming is geared towards kids are used in commercials to draw in kids who already are
fans of those characters. Product placement is also a technique used to attract children to
products aimed specifically them. Product placement was first recognized as a successful
marketing technique when the character E.T. in Steven Spielberg's 1982 movie of the same name
ate Reese's Pieces, resulting in a national spike of 66 percent in product purchases. (Calvert.14).
Another form of product placement involves websites whose sponsors put their logo on the page.
On social sites such as FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram ads are placed on the front page
usually towards the bottom. Ads of all kinds from cars, clothes, other websites to restaurants,
beverages, and foods. On Pandora ads are placed in between songs after a certain number of
songs are played. Without even realizing it they being familiarized with that particular brand and
it stays in the back of their mind. Marketing in gaming has recently begun to take off with more
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companies advertising on popular games. To appeal to this now extensive gaming audience,
advertisers have developed advergames, online video games with a subtle or overt commercial
message where the use of product placement is common. Marketers are building awareness of
their brand and loyalty through gaming. (Calvert.18.) With more success a game has the more
success a food company has with product placement.
Viral marketing by marketers is creating anticipation or buzz for a product that hasn’t been
released yet. In viral marketing word of mouth is vital, if the product has a huge buzz people who
have tried it encourage others to do so.
Fast food companies can raise profits through collectibles, particularly those that kids enjoy.
Select a movie or popular animated film. By offering toys of popular television and newly
released movies food companies can entice children through the offer of collectible toys. By
offering collectibles it encourages children to come back and buy more food to get the other toys
in the collection. Loyalty programs offer the same kind of deal geared towards the parents in
slightly different way. Loyalty programs offer incentives for signing up for a points card which
gives free sides or drinks if the customer comes in often and uses the card. Adding up enough
points on a fast food restaurants membership card can give consumers free cookies, fries, drinks,
or money off on future purchases.
Marketing to children of color is also a problem in food companies advertising ethics. Those
children are shown to watch more television which in turn leads to more ads showing unhealthy
foods. No manufacturer or advertiser wishes to publicly portray that they study children's minds,
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and utilize that knowledge to sell them things. It is a fundamental property of marketing that
goods and services be promoted in a manner that is somehow found to be appealing to the
intended audience.
Marketing unhealthy foods and beverages by food companies target children because they are
easier and more likely to spend money on those products. Adults who view the same
advertisements can make the conscious decision to not purchase a product based on the nutrients
or lack of in those products. In 2005, The Institute of Medicine recommended the food,
beverage, and restaurant industries improve the health of their products and shift their advertising
and marketing practices. IOM recommended placing emphasis on marketing healthier child and
youth oriented beverages and foods. The following year food and beverage companies created
the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a self-regulatory program administered
by the Council of Better Business Bureaus to limit unhealthy marketing aimed at children under
the age of twelve.
Concern about the effectiveness led congress in 2009 to lead the formation of an Interagency
Working Group on Food Marketing to Children. The group of experts composed from nutrition,
health, and marketers from the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture released
a set of principles in 2011 to improve the nutrition profiles of food marketed to children.
Research done shows that children of color are more inclined to be overweight based upon the
number of advertisements being shown. (Dorfman, Corporate Irresponsibility) On a daily basis
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African-American children see twice as many calories advertised in fast food commercials as
opposed to their white counterpoints. Frequently, the most advertised and promoted products are
those which include high-calorie and low-nutrition foods and beverages.
On Spanish language television, over 80 percent of all foods and beverages advertised on
children’s shows are not healthy. Among the companies that vowed to change the child directed
advertisements to encourage healthy food and beverage choices, 78 percent of their ads still
promote unhealthy food or drinks. Food and beverage companies also use sponsorship to expand
the reach of companies and to entice children of color even more. Food and beverage companies
advertise with famous athletes, at sporting events, billboards, festivals, and concerts. These
advertising tactics allow food and beverage companies to advertise to children in every facet of
their everyday lives.
Digital marketing by the big food and beverage companies also allow them to reach children
with ads when parents are not around. Companies have begun advertising on social media sites
such as, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. While surfing the internet children ads for unhealthy
foods are all over. Ad spending for interactive video games is projected to reach $1 billion by
2014, with six million 3-11 year olds visiting some form of virtual game online each month.
(PreventionInstitution.org) With companies ads targeting children with unhealthy foods and
drink online, in public, and in the home on television more children are exposed and in turn want
to eat or drink these foods. The products marketed to children—sugar-coated cereals, fast food
restaurants, candy, and toys have remained relatively constant over time. But marketers are now
directing these same kinds of products to children online Marketing by food companies appear in
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every facet of a child’s life from school, sporting events, and the internet. With the internet
taking over our daily lives in America more children will be exposed to online marketing by food
companies and parents will only be able to monitor so much.
In an effort to slow down the climbing childhood obesity rates on August 9, 2010, Santa Clara
County CA became the first U.S. jurisdiction to implement an ordinance that prohibits the
distribution of toys and other incentives to children. Restaurants had many options for complying
with this ordinance, such as introducing healthier menu options, changing current menu items, or
changing marketing or toy distribution practices. The purpose of the current study was to assess
if and how ordinance-affected restaurants changed their children's menus, marketing, and toy
distribution practices relative to non-affected restaurants. To reach this goal, kids menus and
child-directed marketing and toy distribution practices were examined before and after the
ordinance implemented at ordinance-affected fast-food restaurants compared with matched
same-chain restaurants that were unaffected by the ordinance.
Restaurants affected by the ordinance only slightly appeared to have a positive effect on the
restaurant. These beginning steps toward major fast food chains advertising unhealthy meals to
children should be taken up by other major food chains in states across the country. Serving
healthier meals to children and still including the accompanying toy in kid’s meals. Having
healthier meals will still have children buying the food. Healthier meals outside of the home will
also lead to children wanting healthier meals in the home and will make it easier on parents.
Eating healthy outside of the home is just as important as eating at home. More people now live
on the go and eating fast food is at time the number one option in families with children. How
parents handle their children's exposure to advertising and their requests for products can be
influential in shaping the way their children respond to advertised products and how advertising
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affects children's developmental outcomes. Parents who watch television with their child can
monitor what they view and how they view. Discussing the commercial that was just viewed by
the child and explaining to them why the food is unhealthy and why they can’t eat those foods on
a regular basis. Parents can also control and monitor what kind of television shows are that the
child is watching. Restrictive mediation, in which parents enforce rules about television use, can
also diminish children's requests for products. Not allowing children to have those sugary foods
even after seeing the television ad can contribute to healthy eating habits early on in a child’s
development.
Limited progress has been made on establishing standards for advertising food to children. This
comes as no surprise since too much emphasis has been given to micromanaging cuts in sugars
and fats. If we are really interested in solving childhood obesity, focus must be placed squarely
on the reduction of calories. A number Western countries have restricted advertising directed
towards children. Sweden and Norway forbid all advertising directed at children younger than 12
years, Greece bans toy advertising until after 10 PM, and Denmark and Belgium severely restrict
advertising aimed at children. American government regulators should adopt some of these
policies in our country where there is an excessive weight problem. Restricting or eliminating
ads directed specifically aimed at children would drastically reduce the amount of obese children
and other kids from viewing excessive amounts of unhealthy foods. Most of the commercials
aimed at children come while they are watching kid’s shows and would limit the number shown
on those network problems. Limiting the amount of ads that promote sugary and fatty foods to
children should be monitored in the home by the parent and by those who run network
programming. Fast food companies. Toy bans from companies that serve fast food is one
proactive plan to cut down on the amount of foods high in fat and sugar that children intake.
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While totally removing the options for children at fast food restaurants is highly unlikely,
removing toys from the meal will cause a lower number of kids to ask their parent to buy them.
Any measure used to tackle the issue of childhood obesity and the number of ads seen by
children on a regular basis is needed.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced a bill backed by four other Democrats that would take
away the ability of food companies to claim a tax deduction for marketing unhealthy food
products to children. The bill presents a threat to food advertisers after companies managed to
shut down the government's push to adopt sweeping voluntary marketing guidelines two years
ago. It would rely on definitions of food of poor nutritional quality as determined by Health and
Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission, two of the same agencies that were part of
the federal group looking to prohibit advertising to kids 88 of the 100 most consumed foods, like
whole wheat bread and most yogurts. The government stepping in again to hold food companies
accountable for the marketing of unhealthy, sugary foods to children. Advertisers responsible for
80 percent of the food ads targeting children follow their own self-regulatory nutrition guidelines
for marketing food to children. With the new guidelines laid out by the government if the bill
passes food advertisers will have a set of rules to follow in the way kids are marketed to.
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The first lady, Michelle Obama, proposed a new plan that would ban food and beverage
companies from advertising food in schools. The new USDA rules would phase out the
advertising of sugary drinks and junk foods on vending machines and around campuses during
the school day and set guidelines for other in-school promotions, from banners hung in hallways
to sponsored scoreboards on school football fields. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
stated the new rules would eliminate marketing for products that cannot be sold in schools.
Michelle Obama began seeking initiatives to get children more active and eating right soon after
Barack took office in 2009. Former president Bill Clinton started a similar initiative in 2006
which called beverage companies removed sugary drinks and replaced them with water and other
non-sugary drinks.
Ads for junk foods such as candy bars, potato chips and other treats that do not meet to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Smart Snacks in School guidelines would be banned under the
proposed initiative. Those USDA guidelines limit calories, sugar, and fat content in food sold to
students at 100,000 schools. Foods sold at concession stands in school sporting events. Under the
proposed guidelines the only beverage that drink companies can advertise are ones for bottled
water. The big beverage companies such as Dr. Pepper, Coke, and Pepsi are onboard with the
new proposed guidelines.
The high school I attended took all of the sugary drinks out of the vending machines and
replaced those drink with their diet counterparts. More schools taking out sugary drinks and
forcing children to drink more water which is healthier in the long
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Mackenbach
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