CSPI Takes on Dora, SpongeBob Over Marketing to Kids

WASHINGTONThe Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is taking Nickelodeon and parent company Viacom, Inc., to task for allowing characters from its popular television shows, such as Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants, to appear on snack food packaging targeted toward children.

More than 55 health groups and 30 prominent nutritionists, physicians, and other experts, signed a letter sent to Nickelodeon and Viacom to implement strong nutrition standards for the foods marketed to kids on Viacom's various channels and that bear images of its characters.

On Dec. 3, CSPI sent a letter to Viacom President and CEO Philippe Dauman and Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami urging the company to join the Council for Better Business Bureaus' Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a self-regulatory group that promotes a baseline set of standards for food marketing to young children. The company could go even farther by implementing the food marketing guidelines proposed by the Interagency Working Group, a federal task force that in 2011 proposed draft non-binding standards.

The National Academies' Institute of Medicine (IOM) has concluded that marketing puts children's health at risk. Most foods marketed to children are unhealthy, according to CSPI, and food marketing affects children's food preferences, food choices, diets and health.

The letter noted Viacom has taken some small steps in the right direction, including a vague policy to limit the licensing of Nick characters to healthier food products. However, SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer are still used to promote unhealthy foods like imitation fruit snacks, Popsicles, PEZ candy, Cheese Nips crackers, and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Nickelodeon, NickToons and Nick Jr. recently have advertised unhealthy foods like Cocoa Puffs, Air Heads candies, Chuck E. Cheese's and Fruit Roll-Ups."

The letter also stated Nickelodeon lags behind the Walt Disney Company, which earlier this year announced new nutrition standards that it is expected to apply to all its marketing.

In July, CSPI chided DreamWorks Animation for allowing characters from its Madagascar 3: Europes Most Wanted movie to appear on packages of Lance Sandwich Crackers and Nekot Cookies.