No junk for kids under 12
Food and beverage companies will begin a code of practice to stop advertising unhealthy foods on TV for kids under 12.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
A little conscience seems to have infiltrated through to food and beverage manufacturers who will voluntarily withhold advertising products to children under the age of 12 unless they promote a healthy diet and lifestyle.
It’s also a commercial move to deliver them the better of two evils. They hope it will counter calls for a complete ban on junk food advertising targeted at kids.
Companies participating in the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s (AFGC) responsible children’s marketing initiative will commit to targeting children under 12 “only when it will further the goal of promoting healthy dietary choices and healthy lifestyles”.
The initiative will apply to all television, radio, print, cinema and internet advertising “where the audience is predominantly children under 12”, or where the program “is directed primarily to children”.
Full membership of AFGC includes some big guns including Nestle, Cadbury, Arnotts, Kelloggs, Coca Cola, Smiths, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Sanitarium and Colgate-Palmolive.
The move follows ACMA’s decision not to impose any new advertising restrictions.
AFGC chief executive Kate Carnell says despite the ACMA findings “the industry is still keen to address community concerns regarding advertising to children”.
But the council argues self-regulation is more effective than new laws. She said an independent arbitrator would oversee the scheme.
Source: AAP / LiveNews
2 Responses
This will only stop the ‘pester power’ of these foods. While junky foods remain cheaper to buy than healthy / fresh foods, they will still feature heavily on the menu of many cash-strapped families.
And what constitutes “they promote a healthy diet and lifestyle”.
A kid running around or playing sport in ad clip for 2 secs or the whole ad.
Sorry Folks, but self regulation or rules set up by the bodies themselves has been HUGE failure in past.
Looks good, sounds great BUT what actually happens might be something different.