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A Fast-Food and Soda Blitz

Posted on: Wednesday, 30 July 2008, 15:15 CDT

By KEVIN G. DeMARRAIS, STAFF WRITER

Soda manufacturers and fast-food restaurants were responsible for nearly half the $1.6 billion spent in 2006 to promote food and beverages to children and adolescents, the Federal Trade Commission reported Tuesday.

In its report, "Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents," the FTC found that nearly half the money spent by the nation's biggest food and beverage companies to reach consumers ages 2 to 17 went to integrated advertising campaigns. They combined traditional media with previously unmeasured forms of marketing, including packaging, in-store advertising, sweepstakes and the Internet.

Integrated campaigns often involve cross-promotion with a new movie or popular television program. That was especially true for some food categories, such as restaurant food and fruits and vegetables, where cross-promotions accounted for nearly 50 percent of reported child-directed expenditures.

The biggest chunk of the promotional money - $853 million - went into traditional media, especially television advertising.

Carbonated beverage makers spent the most money to reach the youth market - $492 million - followed by fast-food restaurants ($293 million) and cereals ($236 million). By comparison, marketers spent only $11 million promoting fruits and vegetables and $54 million on dairy products to the youth market.

In analyzing the data, the report calls for all food companies to voluntarily "adopt and adhere to meaningful, nutrition-based standards for marketing their products to children under 12." Congress ordered the study over concern about the dramatic increase in the incidence of childhood obesity in the United States.

"It's clear from our study that the food and media industries market food to our young people using enormous resources and creativity," Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press conference.

"Now we're calling on both industries to deploy their talents and resources to improve the nutrition content of food and beverages marketed to children," Parnes said.

The data came from beverage manufacturers and bottlers; producers of packaged snacks, baked goods, cereals and prepared meals; makers of candy and chilled desserts; dairy marketers; fruit and vegetable growers; and quick-service restaurants. Much of the information was confidential.

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On the Net:

FTC: Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents

Source: The Record; Bergen County, N.J.

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