Apparently 11 big food companies (McDonalds, General Mills, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, etc.) agreed to limit the advertising of products that don't reach a certain nutritional standard to children under 12. They came to this agreement on their own accord (great PR move). Cool huh? That's what I thought. To bad the pledges were "made under the threat of regulatory intervention and, in some cases, the threat of lawsuits..." I'll say it again...great PR move.
Here's another interesting tidbit regarding the "regulation."
"while General Mills will no longer be advertising Trix to the 12-and-under crowd, it will continue to peddle Cocoa Puffs, which have one less gram of sugar per serving. And it will be able to continue advertising Trix on television shows and other media that are considered to cater to “families” rather than just children.Overall, I guess it's at least a step in the right direction. Who knows, maybe this is the beginning of something bigger.That qualifier amounts to a major loophole, given the media-watching habits of children. An episode of Nickelodon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” for instance, is viewed by an average audience of 876,000 children age 6 to 11, according to Nielsen Media Research, and falls in the category of shows that are off-limits to ads for junk food. But “American Idol” from Fox, which qualifies as a family show, attracts 2.1 million children in the age group."
So what does this really mean?
- The involved food companies will attempt to tweak the amount of sugary goodness and fat in their products to reach the "nutritional standard." (Apparently Cocoa Puffs meets the standard but Trix, with it's extra gram of sugar per serving, does not.)
- Advertisers will look for more creative ways and media vehicles to reach their target.
4 comments:
wow, my thought is this... My friend back in WA has 4 boys. He is a triathlete and his wife cooks awesome healthy food... the kids like fast food, however, they have been educated from the time they can comprehend what empty carbs and calories are and what they do to you... thus they know to avoid the use of them in excess. people should really stop attempting to point the finger 100% on the media for bad eating habits and take a really good look at what is going on in the home. just my 2 cents.
excellent point my friend. if you haven't already you should read the comments on my earlier post titled: "advertising on its worst?"
Yancy, it's Tyler McBride. How are you?! Hey, I think that's good news. However, I think that some people are putting too much pressure on companies, and not enough on parents. Aren't parents the ones primarily responsible for making sure that their kids eat healthy? I 100% agree with Syclist.
Tyler, rock on my friend. It's fun to find out who stumbles upon and reads my blog.
I love both of your comments. You are absolutely right. Let's spread the word and at the very least make sure our kids (or future kids speaking from the perspective of people like syclist and myself) know what's up.
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