A new report from Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) claims that the country’s largest food and beverage companies are becoming more responsible in how they advertise to children.
The report notes the 19 companies participating in the Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CAI) achieved “excellent compliance results” in 2009.
The CAI was developed in 2007 to shift advertising directed primarily to children under 12 to the promotion of better-for-you products.
Companies participating in the CAI include fast food giants like McDonald’s and Burger King as well as packaged goods companies such as Kellogg Canada, Kraft Canada and Unilever Canada.
The ASC noted that the landscape of children’s advertising was “significantly different” at the end of 2009 than it was before the initiative’s launch. Among the most significant changes:
• Food and beverage advertising now represents less than 20% of all child-directed TV advertising on Canadian channels catering to audiences under 12
• Many products have been reformulated to enhance their nutritional value
• Child-directed ads depicting a child consuming food now show portion sizes consistent with the serving size stated on the product’s Nutrition Facts Panel
In the past year, the ASC partnered with Corus Television–owner of the youth-oriented TV channels YTV, Teletoon (50%), Treehouse and Nickelodeon–to conduct a comparative study of children’s TV advertising pre-CAI and now.
Examining CAI participants’ scheduling information for a two-month period in 2004 and the same period in 2008, the ASC found that in 2008, 95% of the food and beverage products advertised to children under 12 were for better-for-you products, compared with 63% in the 2004 period.
The report also notes that the mix of products advertised directly to children has changed. By 2008, for example, one participant had stopped advertising a product that accounted for 40% of its ads in the monitored period in 2004, while two other companies stopped advertising to children altogether.
“What it shows is [participating companies] are taking it seriously and we see it’s making a difference in what’s being advertised,” said Janet Feasby, the ASC’s vice-president, standards. “We’re certainly pleased that this has been achieved. It’s not easy when you’re a huge company and you’ve got lots of products. It takes a lot of hard work and effort and commitment in order to do this.
“Their agencies and media buying companies have to be equally committed.”
