It may be fair to say that parents should be responsible for their children in all senses, including and especially what they eat and what they are taught about well-balanced, healthy lifestyles, but is it fair then to put every conceivable obstacle in their way? Bernice Hurst investigates.
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Is it fair to bombard children with colourful, fun-filled, treat-enhanced advertising in as many ways as you can find to attract their attention?
Is it fair to assess the spending power of what branding guru Martin Lindstrom dubs Tweens (eight to 14 year-olds) in his latest book, Brandchild, and then devote vast marketing budgets to getting a share of that spending? Lindstrom insists that a code of ethics must be vigorously followed, while justifying marketing to Tweens on the basis that not doing so would be providing a disservice. Just imagine, he says, if “the big gates of advertising swung open only on Peter’s 18th birthday”. Peter would be “completely unable to cope with the onslaught of new information”.
The lines differentiating advertising, marketing, sponsorship and public relations are unclear. For years now hard-pressed schools have accepted donations from business while governors, parents and teachers have debated whether these businesses are altruistically “giving something back” as they proclaim or using schools to target young children for their own purposes.
Kids influence consumption
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By GlobalDataIt is no secret that shopping and eating patterns are seriously influenced by children. The US Market for Kids Foods and Beverages, published by Packaged Facts in May 2003, reports that American youngsters between the ages of five and 14 will directly control US$10bn in food and beverage spending this year and will influence the vast majority of purchases made in the category.
Don Montuori, acquisitions editor for Packaged Facts, explained some of the report’s findings. “Character licensing has turned the shopping experience into a relationship building exercise for children. As soon as a child sees a character on a box, they are clued into the fact that this product has something to do with them and that they should have a say in its purchase.”
Licensing television characters popular with children has unquestionably become a lucrative avenue. Ginsters, purveyors of sandwiches, pies and pasties, has broadened its traditional core audience of young adults to target children. Datamonitor reports that “to stand a chance of success, Ginsters must make the product cool and fun, while emphasising the nutritional benefits to parents.” The company’s solution to this two-pronged challenge is to license characters from a cartoon series and feature Fistral Freddie, Porthmeor Pete, Malibu Mike and Bondi Bruce on its new Cornish Riviera Pasty range. According to Datamonitor, Ginsters has learned a lesson from the uproar surrounding Cadbury’s efforts to link school sports equipment with chocolates. “The key challenge,” says the research company, “will be convincing parents that the products offer appropriate levels of nutritional value.”
Ethical behaviour essential
Like Lindstrom, Reuters Business Insight in its report on Marketing Food and Drink to Kids stresses the importance of ethical behaviour, even echoing Datamonitor’s terminology: “The key challenge for manufacturers and retailers is to harness the influence and purchasing power of kids while acting ethically and without alienating either parents or their target market.”
Kellogg’s, meanwhile, is encouraging younger customers to vote on their preferred shape and flavour additions to the Real Fruit Winders range. As reported by Datamonitor, a web site, text messages, traditional mail and a free telephone number have been available to encourage participation in a new form of interactive marketing. It is precisely this type of participation that Martin Lindstrom advocates, insisting that his research emphasises Tweens’ high level of marketing sophistication and simultaneous demand for involvement in decision-making.
BBC and sport celebrities under fire
Even the state-owned BBC is getting in on the act, albeit with a degree of opposition from parents and the highly vocal Food Commission. When the BBC licensed its Tweenies cartoon characters to the likes of McDonald’s, Marks & Spencer and Heinz, the Food Commission decided to see where the products fit with government recommendations on children’s diet. Objecting to the Corporation’s contention that it “seeks to find a balance in the foods licensed”, the Commission reported that each and every one of the products exceeded government guidelines on salt, sugar, fat and/or saturated fat content.
Athletes, too, have been criticised for endorsing snacks that, when eaten in large quantities, are less than healthy for children. Taking advantage of their status as celebrities admired by children, many parents have protested that they should focus on encouraging participation in sports and steer clear of being seen to take large sums of money to advertise foods higher in salt, sugar or fat content than is advisable for their young fans.
Where sponsorship is subtler, there is still a certain reluctance to say anything that could be construed as criticism. Martin Paterson, Food and Drink Federation Deputy Director General, has repeatedly insisted that “food and drink manufacturers take a very responsible view of their relationships with children and with marketing partners.” The Federation has Codes of Practice governing children’s advertising and is a regular contributor to schools programmes on the subject of healthy lifestyles.
Manufacturers focusing on responsible marketing
Similarly, global manufacturers such as Kraft are making more of their “responsible” policies towards children. In June 2003 the company announced that “In-school marketing will be eliminated, vending machine products will be scrutinised to make sure they are appropriate for children, and marketing guidelines will be established to emphasise healthy eating and active lifestyles.” Along with household names such as Coca-Cola, Hershey, Heinz, Kellogg’s, McDonald’s, Pepsi and others, Kraft has given an unconditional grant to support Kidnetic.com, “an interactive and educational Web site designed to appeal to kids nine to 12 and their parents to help prevent childhood obesity by promoting healthy eating and physical activity.” just-food.com members can read more about this by clicking here.
As Annie Seeley of the Food Commission says, however, “there are more and more schemes like this run by the food industry…Ultimately these sorts of sites cannot give truly independent advice and information. They will not talk about ‘eating less’ of unhealthy foods.”
Teaching kids how advertising works
Apart from the BBC, most of the television programmes watched by children in the UK are supported by advertising, something to which the government apparently has little or no objection. Culture secretary Tessa Jowell reportedly told a meeting of food manufacturers and advertisers in November 2002 that there were no plans to outlaw food ads on children’s television. Her greater concern was that the overall quality of children’s programmes might fall if there was less advertising revenue available to fund production companies. The suggestion that it is good for children to understand how advertising works was echoed in early 2003 by another spokesperson from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport who said that Cadbury’s Get Active campaign would encourage children to realise that when they eat chocolate they should do it in the context of a balanced and active life.
Not everyone agrees that food ads aimed at children should continue to be unregulated. Felicity Lawrence, consumer affairs correspondent for the Guardian, quoted an ICM study conducted in April 2003 which revealed that “82% of Britons want food advertisements aimed at children to be banned or more tightly regulated because they feel manufacturers are irresponsible”. Inconsistencies between government recommendations and policies advocated by its departments and official broadcasting arm have yet to be resolved.
