Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents - Federal Trade ...

Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents
effectiveness of specific healthy messaging campaigns on consumer behavior. For example,
a packaged food company has examined the impact of its child-directed campaign to promote
exercise and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, as well as its health and
nutrition grant program. A milk marketer has analyzed the impact of its youth-directed
promotion on milk consumption in a sample of secondary schools. A beverage company has
evaluated the effectiveness of its nutrition and fitness program for elementary school students,
which was developed in collaboration with another organization.
re c o m m e n d a t I o n s :
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Companies should expand public outreach efforts – through company-sponsored
initiatives, third-party partnerships, and innovative and varied media techniques – to
educate children and teens about the importance of healthy eating and exercise.
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Companies should devote particular attention to outreach aimed at ethnic
minority populations that are disproportionately affected by childhood
overweight and obesity.
Companies should continue researching the effectiveness of their campaigns to
educate and motivate youth to engage in healthier lifestyles.
7. Media and Entertainment Company Initiatives
In addition to efforts by food and beverage marketers, several media and entertainment
companies have taken steps to encourage healthier eating and healthier lifestyles by children. A
number of companies have adopted policies to limit the licensing of their popular characters for
use in marketing foods meeting certain nutritional guidelines. Disney announced in October
2006 that it would use its characters – such as Mickey Mouse and others – only on products that
meet specific nutritional requirements. 169 Sesame Workshop has pledged to license its characters
only for more nutritious, lower-calorie products, and has partnered with a number of produce
companies to promote fruits and vegetables; consumers now see Elmo promoting strawberries
and cherries, Big Bird on applesauce, and Cookie Monster on cans of corn. 170 Similarly,
Discovery Kids and the Cartoon Network now license their characters for use on food packaging
and promotional tie-ins only for products meeting nutritional standards for fat, calories, and
sugar. 171 Nickelodeon – which since 2005 has licensed its SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the
Explorer characters for use on packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables 172 – has pledged to limit
licensing of its characters exclusively to better-for-you foods by 2009. 173 Most recently, in 2008,
Warner Bros. announced it has partnered with Safeway supermarkets to license its Looney Tunes
characters for use on Safeway branded kids’ products meeting certain nutritional standards;
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