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

Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents
Promotion of food and beverage products also occurred at music concerts and festivals, teen
choice awards and music video awards, and other public appearances by musical entertainers.
At one venue at which a candy company purchased billboard and scoreboard advertising, child-
focused events included Disney on Ice, the Ringling Brothers Circus, Sesame Street Live, the
Harlem Globetrotters, and Hilary Duff and Cheetah Girls concerts, while teen events included
high school basketball, wrestling and cheerleading events, Fall Out Boy and American Idol
concerts, and high school graduations. A children’s toaster pastry brand sponsored the national
tour for American Idol, distributing samples at concerts and displaying branded ads on jumbo
screen billboards.
Two major beverage companies established shopping mall vending areas, with comfortable
seating, as a place for teenagers to congregate, with samples provided at some venues. Candy
companies sponsored children’s activities associated with Halloween and Easter at shopping
malls and train stations. Other events featuring branding and product sampling by marketers
of beverages, candy, and baked goods, as well as QSRs, occurred at amusement parks, zoos,
museums, parades, and children’s movie premieres. One refrigerated cookie dough brand
sponsored a Disney Jr. Chef program at Epcot Center, Disneyland, and on Disney Cruise Line
ships, in which children baked cookies and received branded chef hats, aprons, mitts, and
certificates.
Another common promotional technique was to send branded cars, vans, or buses on
national or regional tours to distribute samples and engage with children and teens at stores,
community events, amusement parks, and athletic events. One energy drink company employed
staff to travel around the country in branded cars to give product samples to consumers,
particularly adolescents. A candy company partnered with Six Flags Amusement Parks and
made frequent stops of its touring bus at the parks to conduct games, sampling, and premium
giveaways; the company also displayed signage and ran 30-second television ads on monitors in
the parks. A carbonated beverage company sponsored a “Holiday Caravan” – a branded truck in
which children could have their photo taken with Santa. Another beverage company employed
two teams of samplers that toured the country in branded vehicles, distributing samples and
creating “impromptu” parties at sporting events, skating parks, and areas with numerous
pedestrians, with occasional appearances by performing artists.
Several companies – including dairy, fruit, candy, QSR, and beverage companies –
sponsored youth soccer events at the local, national, and even international level. Companies
also sponsored Little League Baseball and other youth sports, as well as championship games,
high school player-of-the-year awards, sports camps for young athletes, and youth ballparks.
Product samples were distributed or sold at youth sport events, and sporting equipment branded
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