ARTICLE: Cookie Monster has spoken, advertisers have listened
Before you read this article, you might watch the incredible Colbert clip where Cookie Monster visits his show - clip is posted at this archived post.
From Canada's Globe and Mail
Cookie Monster has spoken, advertisers have listened
If Cookie Monster can kick his sugar fetish, anything is possible.
When the blithe blue beast swapped his chocolate chips for carrot sticks and apple slices on Sesame Street three years ago, the iconic change renewed the debate over how kids' eating habits are affected by what they see on TV.
With the issue under the spotlight, several advertisers got on board as well. In April, 2007, 16 of Canada's largest food companies agreed to a new initiative to restrict advertising to children under 12.
The results appear to be more than lip service, an encouraging sign for critics of advertising targeted at children.
A new report on how the program has fared indicates half of the participants stopped running ads altogether during shows targeted to kids under 12, while the other half tailored their ads to promote only foods that met nutritional standards set up by the Canadian Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. The study, issued by Advertising Standards Canada, was the first look at how the initiative has gone.
“We live in a media-saturated world,” said Linda Nagel, chief executive officer of Advertising Standards Canada. “There's a desire to put measures in place and to act responsibly when we're marketing to children in their early years.”
Two more companies have signed on since the program's inception, and roughly 85 per cent of the food marketing that goes on in Canada now falls under this standard. At a time when childhood obesity is being discussed at the highest levels of government in several countries, food manufacturers can't afford to look as if they're not taking the matter seriously.
“They've done it voluntarily because they want to be part of the solution in what's been termed an obesity epidemic,” said Bob Reaume, vice-president of policy research for the Association of Canadian Advertisers. “There's a real good example where a number of advertisers have come together and said, ‘We want to be responsible.'”
The shift is part of a broader international trend. In 2007, the British government took aim at foods with high levels of sugar and fat, banning advertising of those products during children's television shows. In the early '90s, Sweden and Norway both banned direct television advertising to kids, and Quebec has had a similar ban in place for more than 30 years.
But the feel-good findings of the report do deserve a dose of skepticism. Despite such efforts in the ad community, there are questions about just how effective such rules can be.
Child obesity rates in Quebec have continued to rise, as they have in the rest of the country – Canada ranks fifth out of 34 developed countries in levels of child obesity. The number of kids in this country who are obese went from 3 per cent in 1978 to 8 per cent in 2007, according to a House of Commons report on the subject. A further 18 per cent are overweight.
And for all the good intentions of banning TV marketing to kids, it hardly covers the spectrum of ad pitches children field on a daily basis, critics say.
“Children live in a pervasive marketing environment. They're being sold to all the time,” said Sandra Calvert, a psychology professor and director of the Children's Digital Media Centre at Georgetown University. It's dangerous, she said, because children are particularly susceptible to advertising.
“Especially very young children, they do not understand persuasive intent,” Prof. Calvert said, adding that before age eight, they do not develop the capacity for skepticism in the face of marketing messages.
It's not just Prof. Calvert's research sounding the alarm about advertising's effect on kids. A study in this month's Health Psychology journal shows ads can trigger children to snack more.
When children in the study were shown food advertisements, they ate 45 per cent more snacks than when other ads were on, a factor that researchers said could contribute to obesity.
“There's a correlation,” Prof. Calvert said. “In the short term, we see that children are more likely to select products that have been advertised. And vegetables are not the ones being targeted at them.”
Researchers and some advertisers aren't the only ones who recognize the problem. CBC policy bans advertising to children on its airwaves. The broadcaster's 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. slot, which is all kids' programming, is ad-free. Canada's broadcast regulator liked the policy so much it was made a condition of the CBC's broadcast licence.
“I think all broadcasters recognize that they have a responsibility,” said Steven Guiton, CBC's chief regulatory officer.
The Discovery Network agrees. It took the axe to Nestlé's Nesquik bunny, and similar ads designed to attract younger eyeballs, on its children's programming a couple of years ago.
Participants in the children's advertising initiative include General Mills Canada Corp., Kraft Canada and McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Ltd., which advertises meal combos with apple slices instead of fries, and milk instead of soft drinks.
Coca-Cola Ltd. has also made changes, pulling its soda out of elementary schools, eliminating the use of branded cartoon images, and cutting ads directed at children. The measures themselves are a promotion for the company.
“We want to be seen as being leaders in making a positive contribution to the well-being of Canadians,” said David Moran of Coca-Cola Canada.
The information overload kids deal with is hardly restricted to television, and for the purpose of the initiative, children's advertising is only defined as what goes on during the TV shows that are made for them. So what about the messages that inundate kids every day when they step out of their living rooms?
“Could someone under 12 see some of our advertising? Yes,” Mr. Moran said. But he added that's where parents need to take over, educating their kids on eating a balanced diet.
No matter how good their intentions, however, parents can't be everywhere – and advertisers maintain they can't control who sees their messages.
On a downtown Toronto streetcar this week, a young boy with shorts and tousled hair proved a fitting case study for what critics worry about when they argue the initiative isn't enough if it just addresses TV ads aimed at children.
Gazing up at a series of colourful ads for several different candy bars, the boy was definitely sold.
“Whoa, look at the chocolate” he moaned wistfully to his friends. “Looks good.” He may not have been the intended audience for those ads, but the message got through.
Full article here
From Canada's Globe and Mail
Cookie Monster has spoken, advertisers have listened
If Cookie Monster can kick his sugar fetish, anything is possible.
When the blithe blue beast swapped his chocolate chips for carrot sticks and apple slices on Sesame Street three years ago, the iconic change renewed the debate over how kids' eating habits are affected by what they see on TV.
With the issue under the spotlight, several advertisers got on board as well. In April, 2007, 16 of Canada's largest food companies agreed to a new initiative to restrict advertising to children under 12.
The results appear to be more than lip service, an encouraging sign for critics of advertising targeted at children.
A new report on how the program has fared indicates half of the participants stopped running ads altogether during shows targeted to kids under 12, while the other half tailored their ads to promote only foods that met nutritional standards set up by the Canadian Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. The study, issued by Advertising Standards Canada, was the first look at how the initiative has gone.
“We live in a media-saturated world,” said Linda Nagel, chief executive officer of Advertising Standards Canada. “There's a desire to put measures in place and to act responsibly when we're marketing to children in their early years.”
Two more companies have signed on since the program's inception, and roughly 85 per cent of the food marketing that goes on in Canada now falls under this standard. At a time when childhood obesity is being discussed at the highest levels of government in several countries, food manufacturers can't afford to look as if they're not taking the matter seriously.
“They've done it voluntarily because they want to be part of the solution in what's been termed an obesity epidemic,” said Bob Reaume, vice-president of policy research for the Association of Canadian Advertisers. “There's a real good example where a number of advertisers have come together and said, ‘We want to be responsible.'”
The shift is part of a broader international trend. In 2007, the British government took aim at foods with high levels of sugar and fat, banning advertising of those products during children's television shows. In the early '90s, Sweden and Norway both banned direct television advertising to kids, and Quebec has had a similar ban in place for more than 30 years.
But the feel-good findings of the report do deserve a dose of skepticism. Despite such efforts in the ad community, there are questions about just how effective such rules can be.
Child obesity rates in Quebec have continued to rise, as they have in the rest of the country – Canada ranks fifth out of 34 developed countries in levels of child obesity. The number of kids in this country who are obese went from 3 per cent in 1978 to 8 per cent in 2007, according to a House of Commons report on the subject. A further 18 per cent are overweight.
And for all the good intentions of banning TV marketing to kids, it hardly covers the spectrum of ad pitches children field on a daily basis, critics say.
“Children live in a pervasive marketing environment. They're being sold to all the time,” said Sandra Calvert, a psychology professor and director of the Children's Digital Media Centre at Georgetown University. It's dangerous, she said, because children are particularly susceptible to advertising.
“Especially very young children, they do not understand persuasive intent,” Prof. Calvert said, adding that before age eight, they do not develop the capacity for skepticism in the face of marketing messages.
It's not just Prof. Calvert's research sounding the alarm about advertising's effect on kids. A study in this month's Health Psychology journal shows ads can trigger children to snack more.
When children in the study were shown food advertisements, they ate 45 per cent more snacks than when other ads were on, a factor that researchers said could contribute to obesity.
“There's a correlation,” Prof. Calvert said. “In the short term, we see that children are more likely to select products that have been advertised. And vegetables are not the ones being targeted at them.”
Researchers and some advertisers aren't the only ones who recognize the problem. CBC policy bans advertising to children on its airwaves. The broadcaster's 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. slot, which is all kids' programming, is ad-free. Canada's broadcast regulator liked the policy so much it was made a condition of the CBC's broadcast licence.
“I think all broadcasters recognize that they have a responsibility,” said Steven Guiton, CBC's chief regulatory officer.
The Discovery Network agrees. It took the axe to Nestlé's Nesquik bunny, and similar ads designed to attract younger eyeballs, on its children's programming a couple of years ago.
Participants in the children's advertising initiative include General Mills Canada Corp., Kraft Canada and McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Ltd., which advertises meal combos with apple slices instead of fries, and milk instead of soft drinks.
Coca-Cola Ltd. has also made changes, pulling its soda out of elementary schools, eliminating the use of branded cartoon images, and cutting ads directed at children. The measures themselves are a promotion for the company.
“We want to be seen as being leaders in making a positive contribution to the well-being of Canadians,” said David Moran of Coca-Cola Canada.
The information overload kids deal with is hardly restricted to television, and for the purpose of the initiative, children's advertising is only defined as what goes on during the TV shows that are made for them. So what about the messages that inundate kids every day when they step out of their living rooms?
“Could someone under 12 see some of our advertising? Yes,” Mr. Moran said. But he added that's where parents need to take over, educating their kids on eating a balanced diet.
No matter how good their intentions, however, parents can't be everywhere – and advertisers maintain they can't control who sees their messages.
On a downtown Toronto streetcar this week, a young boy with shorts and tousled hair proved a fitting case study for what critics worry about when they argue the initiative isn't enough if it just addresses TV ads aimed at children.
Gazing up at a series of colourful ads for several different candy bars, the boy was definitely sold.
“Whoa, look at the chocolate” he moaned wistfully to his friends. “Looks good.” He may not have been the intended audience for those ads, but the message got through.
Full article here
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