The mix of food marketing and ethics when it comes to advertising to children tends to always be a popular topic on the social marketing list serv. And, the topic pops up every once and a while in the news too.
If you have been following this issue, and honestly, I have been following it some, but I don’t claim to be an expert on it. So, I’m curious to get others’ thoughts.
Food. Children. Marketing. Advertising. Social Marketing. Ethics. –> Please share your thoughts in the comments. I am providing some questions as prompts, and will post again a summary of the responses and what I discover.
Cases
Last spring and summer, there was much ado about Shrek and his character endorsing various unhealthy food products.
Again, there was a response when McDonald’s advertised by sponsoring report cards and giving achieving students special McDonald offers.
Articles
Fundamental Shift in Making and Marketing Snacks to Kids, MarketingProfs June 11, 200
Sweet Surrender, Washington Post, May 22, 2008
Junk Food Marketing Linked to Child Obesity, Lancaster Farming, May 23, 2008
Shrek: He’s Big, Green and Promoting Junk Food, MSNBC, April 25, 2007
Feel free to leave links to more articles/cases in the comments =) I know there’s a ton of news and literature out there.
Questions
- Where has this issue been and where is it headed?
- Has progress been made? What does ‘progress’ mean?
- Is this an issue or is it over-reaction?
- Are there boundaries when marketing food to children and what are those boundaries?
- How is this sector of the industry changing?
Thanks ya’ll! Look forward to reading your insights!
