Aligning guidelines with ASA's new code on marketing to children

Reacting to the new developments, General Mills SA has developed marketing guidelines to establish product standards for brands marketed to this niche; for marketing directly to this niche; and for learning and collaboration among industry, government and public advocates.

More specifically, on an international level the company has undertaken to provide lower-calorie, higher-nutrient density products to parents and their children and set consistent, credible nutrition standards for products marketed to children aged 12 and younger.

The company will also continue to follow the Children's Advertising Review Unit's advertising guidelines and sustain its commitment to improve the nutrition profile of core products in children's diets, focusing on global recommendations to increase fibre, whole grain, vitamins and minerals, while decreasing sugar, sodium and fat.

Why the focus on food and beverage marketing to children? To begin with, South Africa's public health issues include under- and over-nutrition, falling life expectancies and rising prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes. Where children in particular are concerned, obesity concerns continue to grow and the Institute of Medicine, among others, has called on companies to improve the nutrition and fitness behaviours of young people.

At the same time, it is estimated that local parents spend over R20bn annually on their children, and on the food products that they beg for. In addition, children's purchasing power has grown over the years, prompting profit-obsessed marketers to capitalise - sometimes unethically - on trends to ‘feed' children all sorts of products.

The attraction: gaining 'a customer for life'

In short, the adopted appendix to the ASA code holds that products may not be marketed to children if they do not represent healthy dietary choices and a healthy lifestyle, consistent with established scientific standards. ‘Marketing' extends to celebrities or characters licensed from third parties, promotional activity, TV advertising and advertising in or in close proximity to pre-school and primary school premises.

Says Cindy Hall, marketing manager at General Mills SA, “The influence of media, advertising and technology has had a powerful influence on children and we intend to educate consumers on the healthier aspects inherent in food and provide both children and parents with the necessary information and guidelines.”

Incidentally, research shows that marketers are attracted to the child market because it offers the opportunity to gain ‘a customer for life'. They win the child's admiration as a youngster when he can influence his parent's buying decisions and later on, he becomes a customer who spends his own money to purchase the product for his own family.

According to the code, “Food and beverage advertising, including promotions, should not encourage poor nutritional habits or an unhealthy lifestyle in children, or encourage … excess consumption. Portion sizes featured in … advertising should not be excessive or more than would be reasonable to consume by a person of the age depicted”.