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.
