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

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Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents availability with purchase of a children’s meal. Frequently, cross-promotions involved rebate offers that were advertised on product packaging and on point-of-sale displays. c. Re w a R d i n g ch i l d R e n a n d Te e n s w i T h PR e m i u m s A key feature of a cross-promotional campaign was nearly always the distribution to children of toys, stickers, games, or other items, often found in packages and QSR children’s meals, or available with proofs of purchase or by inputting a package code on a food product website. QSRs in particular were apt to use toys linked to cross-promotions of new movies, popular children’s television programming, or classic children’s toys as a means of marketing their “kids’ meals” to children. Toys were generally sold in a series, encouraging children to purchase multiple meals so they could collect each separate toy. Premiums included figurines of film and television characters, plush toys, toy trucks and cars, puzzles and games, including toys for outdoor activities, and functional objects such as calculators, rulers, watches, wristbands, and water bottles. Restaurants also frequently structured their cross-promotions to include toys that would appeal to both girls and boys, such as a promotion for one quick-service “kids’ meal” that gave children the option of a G.I. Joe toy or a Bratz toy, and another promotion that offered the option of a Polly Pocket fashion doll or a toy Hummer vehicle. Packaged food companies also frequently distributed thematically linked premium items with their products. Examples included trading cards, back-to-school kits, movie posters, stickers, iron-ons, video games, activity books, bobble-head dolls, toys, pencil toppers, bowls and utensils, personalized license plates, key chains, and figurines, which typically carried branding for the media property and/or the food brand. For many DVD releases, food and media companies partnered to offer cash back or a certain quantity of free product when consumers purchased the DVD and/or the food item. Rebates and discounts were also available for cross-promotion themed toys. Companies that were engaged in cross-promotions with theme parks and other youth venues provided discounts on tickets or admission. Other premiums were distributed to children and teens through sweepstakes. 61 Cross- promotions with films might offer a sweepstakes to win a trip to the film premiere, or to win a family vacation related to the movie’s storyline. An example of a sweepstakes prize created to appeal to children ages 12 and under was a contest to win a dream tree house offered as part of a children’s frozen meal product’s cross-promotion with the children’s film Open Season. Others were geared toward adolescents, including a candy company’s cross-promotion contest with the movie Pirates of the Caribbean that offered cash prizes, iTunes downloads, and screensavers. 34
Food Marketing Activities Directed to Children and Adolescents Companies frequently targeted contests to certain age groups by limiting eligibility for prizes, such as to adolescents ages 13 and over, or to youth 14 or younger. ta rG e t e d s w e e p s ta k e s: In connection with the release of children’s film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, one candy company ran two sweepstakes aimed at children and teens. In the first, open to ages 16 and under, game pieces in packages offered children the chance to win a trip to Wannado City theme park to be a candy-maker for a day, invent a new, limited edition candy product, and receive a “salary” of $25,000. In the second, open to all ages, children who found a “Golden Ticket” in the packages of one of five participating candy varieties could win one of five grand prizes, each of which was based on one of the child characters in the movie. Prizes included a trip to Europe, $10,000 in cash, a shopping spree, a fantasy sports camp adventure, and a video animation studio tour. Runner-up prizes for the sweepstakes included movie kits containing a DVD, T-shirt, poster, and other movie-related items; MP3 players; and candy. Finally, a common method for distributing cross-promotion related prizes to children and teens was to provide access to content online or opportunities to instantly win items via a website. These types of prizes were available upon entering a UPC or other code from product packaging onto the website. In this way, children were given opportunities to win toys, video games, movie tickets, and other prizes tied to the cross-promotions. d. in T e R a c T i n g w i T h cR o s s-PR o m o T i o n s v i a T h e in T e R n e T As part of their cross-promotions, many food companies dedicated space on company websites or product sites to advertise the promotions. Similar to packaging and store displays, website content prominently displayed copyrighted images from the cross-promoted films and television programs. QSRs featured unique web pages for toys sold during cross-promotions. Frequently, websites featured an interactive component tied to the cross-promotion, such as an online game featuring the licensed character or an opportunity to win an instant prize related to the promotion. Some websites incorporated the licensed characters into free downloads offered at the sites, such as wallpapers, screensavers, coloring pages, and e-cards. In some cases, media companies allowed movie trailers and extra footage to appear on food company websites advertising the cross-promotion. 35
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