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 />
The Special Order required the companies not only <strong>to</strong> report license fees, but also <strong>to</strong> identify<br />
the costs reported in other promotional activity categories associated with implementing the<br />
license, such as the cost of television ads or product packaging featuring a licensed character.<br />
The youth-directed license fees represented 22% of the breakfast cereal companies’ <strong>to</strong>tal youth-<br />
directed expenditures associated with using character <strong>and</strong> cross-promotional licenses. Such fees<br />
accounted for 15.7% of all youth-directed implementation costs in the restaurant food category<br />
<strong>and</strong> 34% in the snack food category. By contrast, 38% of the fruit <strong>and</strong> vegetable producers’<br />
youth-directed expenditures associated with character <strong>and</strong> cross-promotional licensing<br />
arrangements were attributable <strong>to</strong> license fees. For an analysis of the overall costs associated<br />
with implementation of licensed cross-promotions, see Section II.C.7, below.<br />
c. aT h l e T i c sP o n s o R s h i P s a n d ce l e b R i T y en d o R s e m e n T fe e s<br />
Nearly all of the food <strong>and</strong> beverage categories used athletic sponsorships 48 <strong>and</strong> celebrity<br />
endorsements 49 as promotional techniques, <strong>and</strong> these were primarily directed <strong>to</strong> teens. The<br />
Special Order asked the companies <strong>to</strong> report the fees paid <strong>to</strong> celebrities <strong>to</strong> serve as endorsers,<br />
which are discussed here. In addition, companies were required <strong>to</strong> identify expenditures already<br />
reported in other promotional categories that represented the use of a celebrity endorsement, such<br />
as the costs associated with television ads or an event featuring a celebrity endorser. See Section<br />
II.C.7, below, for a discussion of the <strong>to</strong>tal costs associated with use of celebrity endorsements.<br />
Youth-directed expenditures on athletic sponsorships <strong>and</strong> celebrity endorsement fees for<br />
the reported br<strong>and</strong>s <strong>to</strong>taled $37.6 million. Carbonated <strong>and</strong> non-carbonated beverage companies<br />
spent more than $27 million on teen-directed expenditures in these categories (including $3.7<br />
million in celebrity endorsement fees), representing about 14% of the <strong>to</strong>tal amount they spent on<br />
these promotional activities for the reported br<strong>and</strong>s. The QSRs reported nearly $4.6 million for<br />
teen-directed athletic sponsorships <strong>and</strong> celebrity endorsement fees, <strong>and</strong> $1.2 million for similar,<br />
child-directed activities. These teen-directed expenditures comprised only 6% – <strong>and</strong> the child-<br />
directed expenditures only 1.6% – of the QSRs’ <strong>to</strong>tal expenditures in these two promotional<br />
activity categories.<br />
d. ev e n T s ma R k e T i n g<br />
Companies in all food categories reported expenditures for event marketing across the<br />
youth spectrum. 50 The largest amounts reported for child-directed event marketing came from<br />
QSRs ($7.5 million), juice <strong>and</strong> non-carbonated beverage companies ($6 million), <strong>and</strong> baked<br />
goods producers ($4.8 million). The largest amounts reported for teen-directed event marketing<br />
came from the carbonated beverages (nearly $65 million), juice <strong>and</strong> non-carbonated beverages<br />
($7.8 million), dairy ($4.1 million) <strong>and</strong> c<strong>and</strong>y/frozen desserts ($3.9 million) companies. As a<br />
22