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

Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents
occurred included South of Nowhere (snack cakes), Unfabulous (snack cakes), Nick at Nite’s
Road Crew (QSR meal), Free Ride (cereal), Everwood (cereal), and Saved (cereal).
Companies also reported placements in PG- and PG-13-rated movies, including Curious
George (fruit), The Shaggy Dog (carbonated beverages, juice, bottled water), Saving Shiloh
(snack cakes), Zoom (snack cakes), Annapolis (snack cakes), RV (snack cakes), Click (snack
cakes), Bring It On: All or Nothing (snack cakes), Step Up (cereal), Glory Road (carbonated
beverages, bottled water), Eight Below (carbonated beverages), Aquamarine (carbonated
beverages), How to Eat Fried Worms (carbonated beverages, bottled water), Flicka (carbonated
beverages, sports drinks, bottled water), Superman Returns (carbonated beverages), Employee
of the Month (sports drinks, cereal), School for Scoundrels (sports drinks), and The Fast and the
Furious 3: Tokyo Drift (energy drinks). No placements in G-rated movies were reported.
Two candy companies and one packaged food company had company policies specifically
prohibiting the use of paid product placements in any media properties primarily directed to
children under 12. In addition, as discussed in Section IV, members of the Children’s Food
and Beverage Advertising Initiative have agreed not to seek any product placement of food and
beverage products in editorial and entertainment content directed to children under twelve.
h. adveRTising in mo v i e Th e a T e R s, vi d e o s, a n d vi d e o ga m e s
Another technique companies used to promote their food and beverage products to children
and adolescents, as well as to general audiences, was to place advertisements in movie theaters,
videos, and video games. Ads in movie theaters and on DVDs and VHS tapes were typically
15- or 30-second ads originally developed for television that were shown prior to the screening
of the film. In some cases, the ads involved cross-promotions for movies, such as Pirates of
the Caribbean. Based on the companies’ reports, movie theater chains often have discretion in
selecting the films before which they show food ads. For this reason, the Commission does not
have a list of the films associated with food ads.
Advertisements in online and console-based third-party video games 74 can take the form of
video ads that play before the game, banner ads or virtual billboards that are shown during the
game, or product or brand integration into game content, similar to product placements in a film
or television program. 75 A few companies reported using in-game advertising as a promotional
tool to reach adolescents. One QSR company placed an ad in a skateboarding game; players in
the game would move through a virtual cityscape in which they would pass virtual versions of
the restaurant. The company received similar brand exposure in other video games. In another
example, a snack chip brand advertised in a PlayStation racing game targeted to adolescents;
in the game, racing bikes were adorned with product logos, similar to actual sponsored racing.
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