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CBBB, Ad Council Reviewing Childrens Ad Guidelines
January 15, 2007
1 Min Read
ARLINGTON, Va.—In an initiative designed to shift the mix of advertising messaging to children to encourage healthier dietary and lifestyle choices, The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) approved significant revisions to the Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children’s Advertising, which monitors all advertising directed to children under 12. The revisions are part of an industry initiative to revamp such advertising; charter participants in the initiative include: Cadbury Schweppes USA; Campbell Soup Co.; Coca Cola Co.; General Mills Inc.; Hershey Co.; Kellogg Co.; Kraft Foods Inc.; McDonald’s; PepsiCo Inc.; and Unilever. These companies’ television advertising expenditures for children’s food and beverages are estimated to comprise more than 2/3 of the entire market.
Under terms of the initiative, the companies will:
Devote at least half their advertising directed to children on televisions, radio, print and Internet to promote healthier dietary choices and/or to messages that encourage good nutrition or healthy lifestyles;
Limit products shown in interactive games to healthier dietary choices, or incorporate healthy lifestyle messages into the games;
Not advertise food or beverage products in elementary schools;
Not engage in food and beverage product placement in editorial and entertainment content; and
Reduce the use of third-party licensed characters in advertising that does not meet the Initiative’s product or messaging content.
To ensure participating companies are adhering to initiative standards, each must submit a commitment tailored to the company’s product portfolio. CBBB will monitor each company’s compliance with initiative standards and document their progress on a publicly accessible Web site. The new program will systematically review the overall impact of the initiative, with the first review beginning after at least three years.
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