Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents - Federal Trade ...
Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents - Federal Trade ...
Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents - Federal Trade ...
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<strong>Marketing</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Children</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Adolescents</strong><br />
165. 2007 Forum Transcript at 56 (noting Kraft’s Salsa, Sabor y Salud initiative).<br />
166. Id. at 67, 158-163 (describing Healthy BET initiative, a partnership between General Mills <strong>and</strong> the BET<br />
Foundation).<br />
167. Id. at 68 (describing General Mills’s grant program).<br />
168. 2006 Report at 52.<br />
169. See 2007 Forum Transcript at 8-9, 74-75. Disney’s policy contains an exception for “special occasion<br />
sweets” that allows it, for example, <strong>to</strong> license characters for use on children’s birthday cakes. Id. at 77.<br />
Disney also has taken steps <strong>to</strong> improve the health profile of foods it offers in its theme parks, including by<br />
eliminating the use of trans fats <strong>and</strong> by offering fruits <strong>and</strong> vegetables, <strong>and</strong> milk, water, <strong>and</strong> 100% juice,<br />
as “default” items in its kids’ meals rather than French fries <strong>and</strong> soft drinks, which remain available upon<br />
request. Disney has stated that “the overwhelming majority” of park guests are selecting the “healthy”<br />
options. Id. at 77-78.<br />
170. See id. at 91-93; see also Dr. Jennifer Kotler, Assistant Vice President of Domestic Research, Sesame<br />
Workshop, Healthy Habits for Life Presentation at the 2007 Forum (July 18, 2007), at 3-5, available at<br />
www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/childobesity/presentations/kotler.pdfl; Press Release, Sesame Workshop,<br />
Del Monte <strong>Food</strong>s Announces Partnership with Sesame Workshop; What is Red <strong>and</strong> Blue <strong>and</strong> Encourages<br />
<strong>Children</strong> <strong>to</strong> Eat Their Greens? Sesame Street’s Elmo, Grover <strong>and</strong> Cookie Monster Join Del Monte <strong>Food</strong>s <strong>to</strong><br />
Promote Healthy Eating Habits Among <strong>Children</strong> (June 21, 2006), available at www.sesameworkshop.org/<br />
aboutus/inside_press.php?contentId=16467280.<br />
171. See Press Release, Car<strong>to</strong>on Network, Car<strong>to</strong>on Network <strong>to</strong> Adopt New <strong>Food</strong> & Beverage-Related Guidelines<br />
<strong>and</strong> New Healthy Lifestyle Programming Pledge for Kids (Aug. 17, 2007), available at http://news.<strong>to</strong>onzone.net/article.php?ID=18509;<br />
Jon Lafayette, Discovery Lends Kids Label <strong>to</strong> Healthy <strong>Food</strong>s, TVWeek, Aug.<br />
13, 2007, available at www.tvweek.com/news/2007/08/discovery_lends_kids_label_<strong>to</strong>.php.<br />
172. These characters have appeared on packages of spinach, baby carrots, frozen edamame, apples, pears, <strong>and</strong><br />
clementines. See Press Release, Seapoint Farms, Seapoint Farms Meets Dora the Explorer & SpongeBob<br />
(July 19, 2006), available at www.seapointfarms.com/shownews.asp?newsid=40. At the same time,<br />
however, Nickelodeon continued <strong>to</strong> license its characters for use on non-better-for-you products, including<br />
SpongeBob on PopTarts, as well as for a promotional tie-in with Burger King in connection with the<br />
SpongePantis Atlantis movie. See, e.g., The Biz: Nick Rethinks Partnerships <strong>to</strong> Promote SpongeBob <strong>to</strong> Kids,<br />
Br<strong>and</strong>week, Oct. 29, 2007.<br />
173. See Andrew Martin, Nickelodeon <strong>to</strong> Limit Use of Characters on Junk <strong>Food</strong>, N.Y. Times, Aug. 16, 2007, at<br />
C3. Special occasions such as Halloween are excepted. Id.<br />
174. See Marc Graser, WB, Safeway Support Healthy Eating; Looney Tunes <strong>to</strong> Promote Eating Right Kids Line,<br />
Variety, June 3, 2008. Certain ice cream products <strong>and</strong> birthday cakes are exempt from this commitment.<br />
175. See Seapoint Farms, supra note 172. Similarly, a representative of Sesame Workshop reported at the 2007<br />
Forum that parents say its strategy of licensing characters <strong>to</strong> promote fruits <strong>and</strong> vegetables is working. 2007<br />
Forum Transcript at 93.<br />
176. See 2007 Forum Transcript at 94-100; see also Kotler, supra note 170, at 6-13. The research showed that,<br />
on average, children were more likely <strong>to</strong> indicate that they would eat foods with Sesame Street characters on<br />
them, as compared <strong>to</strong> foods without characters at all or with unknown characters, <strong>and</strong> also that children were<br />
more likely <strong>to</strong> taste more pieces of a nutritious food when a Sesame Street character was associated with the<br />
food. 2007 Forum Transcript at 100.<br />
177. See McD’s ‘Active’ Ingredient: Shrek, Br<strong>and</strong>week, Apr. 14, 2008, at S12. The report also indicated that sales<br />
of “Happy Meal” units increased by 16%. A related website encouraged children <strong>to</strong> engage in physical activities<br />
for which they earned points <strong>to</strong> redeem online for rewards.<br />
178. See 2007 Forum Transcript at 83.<br />
96