The Federal Trade Commission has asked the public for its comments regarding the food industry's marketing practices targeting children and adolescents. In its public notice released last month, it also issued a warning to food and beverage companies that it is unlikely that sufficient information on their marketing practices is publicly available and that it would likely require data from the industry to complete its report.
In 2004, marketers spent about $15 billion on kids marketing, more than double the $7 billion spent in 1994, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The agency is likely to get an earful from consumers due to the enormous attention recently focused on childhood obesity and the effort to eliminate unhealthy foods and drinks sold in vending machines in the nation's schools. The commission has requested that all public comments be submitted by April 3; its report to Congress on marketing activities and expenditures of the food industry targeting young people is due by July 1.
Last July, the FTC and the Department of Health and Human Services sponsored a public workshop on the issue, which was attended by representatives from food and beverage companies, medical and nutrition experts, media, consumer groups, advertising specialists and others. (PROMO September). In a statement last month, the agency said that based on the workshop it received "relatively little empirical data" addressing the extent of such marketing to children.
Congress asked the committee to include in its report an analysis of commercial advertising time on TV, radio, print, in-store, direct payments for preferential shelf placement, events, promotions on packaging, Internet activities and product placement in TV, movies and video games.
To that end, the FTC is seeking relevant and verifiable data on the nature and extent of the marketing aimed at children and adolescents. It said it would likely issue orders to obtain the information from food industry members. The FTC cited a report issued last December by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academies that found that food and beverage marketing to children under 12 leads them to ask for and eat more foods that are high in calories and low in nutritional value. The committee preparing the report stopped short of saying TV ads are a direct cause of the epidemic of obesity in children, but said that the connection is strong. The committee called for government legislation if self-regulation should fail (Xtra, Dec. 7).
In its quest to learn more, the FTC wants specific information on how food and beverage companies record and maintain data on their marketing activities and spending targeted this young market. Requested items include detailed data such as the types of foods being marketed, the types of media being used to market the products, the amount and time spent on each medium, the age range being targeted and other specific information. The FTC plans to aggregate the data across various companies based on similar categories.
The issue is contentious, with marketers pulling for self-regulation and some politicians and consumer advocacy groups pushing for legislation to put the FTC in charge of monitoring marketing to children.
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