Marketing food to children and adolescents : a review of industry expenditures, activities, and self-regulation

120 Pages·2009·6.42 MB·English

by  Nicoletta A Wilks

Food and Beverage Consumption and Health

M F C
ARKETING OOD TO HILDREN
A . A R
AND DOLESCENTS EVIEW
I E ,
OF NDUSTRY XPENDITURES
ACTIVITIES, AND SELF-REGULATION

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F B
OOD AND EVERAGE
C H S
ONSUMPTION AND EALTH ERIES

Handbook of Green Tea and Health Research
Helen McKinley and Mark Jamieson (Editors)
2009. ISBN: 978-1-60741-045-4

Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents
Nicoletta A. Wilks
2009 ISBN: 978-1-60692-913-1
Food and Beverage Consumption and Health

M F C
ARKETING OOD TO HILDREN
A . A R
AND DOLESCENTS EVIEW
I E ,
OF NDUSTRY XPENDITURES
ACTIVITIES, AND SELF-REGULATION

NICOLETTA A. WILKS
EDITOR

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CONTENTS

Preface vii
Executive Summary 1
Chapter 1 Introduction 11
Chapter 2 Expenditures for Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents 17
Chapter 3 Food Marketing Activities Directed
to Children and Adolescents 39
Chapter 4 Assessment of Food Company Health Initiatives
and Recommendations 65
Chapter 5 Conclusion 83
Endnotes 85
Index 103

PREFACE

Concern about the dramatic increase in childhood obesity in the United States prompted
Congress to request that the Federal Trade Commission conduct a study of food and beverage
marketing to children and adolescents. The results of that study – an analysis of 2006
expenditures and activities by 44 companies – are presented here. Included are not only the
traditional measured media – television, radio, and print – but also activities on the Internet
and other new electronic media, as well as previously unmeasured forms of marketing to
young people, such as packaging, in-store advertising, event sponsorship, and promotions that
take place in schools. Integrated advertising campaigns that combine several of these
techniques and often involve cross-promotions – linking a food or beverage to a licensed
character, a new movie, or a popular television program – dominate today’s landscape of
advertising to youth.
The data presented here tell the story of food and beverage marketing in a year just
preceding, or early in the development of, industry self-regulatory activities designed to
reduce or change the profile of such marketing to children. These initiatives – some of which
grew out of a 2005 joint FTC and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Workshop on Marketing, Self-Regulation & Childhood Obesity – are described in Section IV
of this Report, which also sets forth recommendations for future actions by food and
entertainment industry members, as well as the organizations that have spearheaded self-
regulatory efforts. This Report, which compiles information not previously assembled or
available to the research community, may serve as a benchmark for measuring future progress
with respect to these initiatives.
The data in this Report were obtained by issuing compulsory process orders to industry
members, including beverage manufacturers and bottlers; companies that produce packaged
food such as snacks, baked goods, cereals, and prepared meals; makers of candy and chilled
desserts; dairy marketers; fruit and vegetable growers; and quick-service restaurants (QSRs).
These are the foods most frequently advertised to children (ages 2-11) and adolescents (ages
12-17), and the 44 target companies are the primary marketers to youth (ages 2-17) in those
food categories. The companies were required to provide expenditure data in each of 20
advertising or promotional activity categories for marketing directed to children, adolescents,
and all audiences. Samples of marketing activities or descriptions of techniques used in 2006
were also obtained.
This is an edited, excerpted and augmented edition of a Federal Trade Commissiion
publication, dated July 2008.