How Advertising to Kids is Regulated

From billboard ads for soft drinks to the emerging use of the internet and mobile phones to send marketing messages, advertisers have more ways to reach children than ever before.

Many parents are already concerned about how much advertising their children see, and how it might affect their wellbeing. The good news is that, when it comes to issues such as fast food and advertising to children, regulatory bodies seem to be taking parent's concerns seriously.

Advertising Regulation in The UK

If parents are worried about the content of an advert their children have seen, then the Advertising Standards Authority should be the first port of call. The ASA is an independent regulatory body which is funded by the advertising industry itself. It covers everything from adverts broadcast on TV to the 'junk mail' that comes through the door every morning. However, it doesn't deal with programme sponsorship, which is instead regulated by the government-funded body Ofcom.

The ASA is there to uphold the regulatory codes agreed on by the industry. In brief, these codes make sure that advertising in print, radio and television is not harmful, misleading or offensive to the public. As well as reacting to complaints, the ASA is also there to monitor current advertising campaigns for breaches to the code.

The Code and Children

Within the code are dedicated directives which govern the content of marketing messages for children. These directives include rules that:

Adverts cannot encourage children to have an unhealthy lifestyle.
• Adverts cannot use emotions like fear or pity to sell to children. Advertisers are also not allowed to suggest a product will make children more popular, clever or confident.
Marketers must avoid high pressure techniques that may make children feel under pressure to buy an advertised product.
• Among advertisers this code is considered one of the toughest in Europe. So far, though, the regulation is not as tough as in Sweden and Norway, where it's illegal to advertise to kids below the age of twelve.

Fast Food Advertising

In recent years the fast food industry has been under extreme scrutiny by parents and the public at large. With obesity rates rising, regulators have been investigating the methods fast food giants use to entice young children into their restaurants. In 2007, the government took a regulatory step which was considered by many to be an effective ban on fast food advertising to kids. As part of a ruling by Ofcom, it ruled that adverts for foods high in sugar, fat and salt should not be screened around programmes aimed at children between 4 and 9. The move caused uproar among the advertising industry. Some commentator claimed that it would even cause the end of children's TV.

The Online Future

Within this tough regulatory climate, advertisers are having to find new ways to persuade children to try their products. Increasingly, they're finding ways to do so online. Though banner adverts are governed by the ASA, websites which are effectively one extended advert for a brand aren't. This loop hole effectively allows advertisers to make claims on websites which they wouldn't be able to do on TV.

Parent Power

Though advertisers are finding clever new ways to sell to kids, parents still have more power than they might think. In the online world there's nothing that brands hate so much as a bad reputation. So, if you're annoyed about an advert and the regulators can't help, start making a noise. Shouting about it on an internet chat room or gathering together a Facebook group to highlight a bad ad may well have the kind of influence some regulators can only dream about.