• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Burger King Limits Advertising to Kids

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 September 2007, 06:00 CDT

By Elaine Walker, The Miami Herald

Add Burger King to the growing list of companies pledging to advertise only healthy products to kids.

The Miami fast-food chain today is announcing plans to join McDonald's and 10 other major food and beverage companies, who last November agreed to rein in their advertising targeted at kids.

The initiative launched by the Council of Better Business Bureaus seeks to address concerns over the epidemic of childhood obesity and the role that advertising plays in the crisis.

Burger King's announcement today includes plans to take its commitment one step further than advertising. The chain will begin tests this fall with plans for a rollout by the end of 2008 -- and possibly as early as spring -- on two new healthy products for kids: Flame Broiled Chicken Tenders, shaped like a Burger King crown, and Apple Fries, apples cut in the shape of French fries.

That move got the attention of nutrition advocates, who have previously been critical of Burger King for its delay in removing trans fats from its foods.

IT'S GOOD FOR YOU

"Burger King may be the first fast-food burger outlet to offer an entree with a kid's meal that's actually healthy," said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "To actually have some flame-broiled chicken is unique and a great addition to the menu. But still the overwhelming choices for fast-food kid's meals are not healthy enough."

As part of its commitment to the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, Burger King pledges that by Dec. 2008 it will meet a set of nutrition guidelines for any product advertising targeting kids under 12 years old.

The chain also agreed not to advertise its products in elementary schools and not to use licensed characters on any advertising that doesn't meet the new guidelines. Other participants include Coca-Cola, General Mills, Hershey, Kellogg, Kraft and PepsiCo. Each establishes its own guidelines that must be approved by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

"Companies are seeing there is a benefit to being part of this initiative," said Elaine Kolish, director of the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, who hailed Burger King's decision to join the program. "They're doing this because they want to do the right thing. They're responding to what consumers are interested in. It's enlightened self-interest."

The nutrition guidelines Burger King has pledged include:

--No more than 560 calories per meal.

--Less than 30 percent of calories from fat.

--Less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat.

--No added trans fats.

--No more than 10 percent of calories from added sugars.

MENU LINES

Although Burger King's initial proposed meal -- Flame Broiled Chicken Tenders, Mott's Organic Unsweetened Apple Sauce and Hershey's 1 percent Low Fat White Milk -- falls under the company's guidelines, the move allows for the development of future products.

"These are the most stringent guidelines out there," said Cindy Syracuse, senior director of youth and family marketing for Burger King. "We want to be the leader in the category and an innovator. We didn't make the guidelines to fit one meal, we're far more strategic and thinking for the long-term."

Burger King's guidelines are stricter than McDonald's, which has not announced plans to create any new products in conjunction with the program. But McDonald's will implement its guidelines starting in January 2008.

Spokesman Keva Silversmith said the reason Burger King didn't join the initiative last year is because it was in the process of developing the products that would fall within the new guidelines.

"We wanted to make sure we could offer something unique to the Burger King brand while still meeting the nutritional standards," Silversmith said. "We're offering products that kids will find fun and moms will find nutritionally convenient."

Source: The Miami Herald

More News in this Category