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PAST ISSUES
Food commercials target children
by Molly Jackson
Exchange Staff
According to a study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation children and teens are the most targeted group in food advertisements on television.
Children ages 8 to 12 watch 21 food commercials each day, the most of any age group. That is 7,600 commercials each year. Teens ages 13 to 17 watch an average 17 food commercials each day, or 6,000 each year; and children ages 2 to 7 watch 12 food ads each day, or 4,400 a year.
In the study it was found that 34 percent of all television commercials aimed at children were for candy and snacks, 28 percent for cereal, 10 percent for fast foods, and 4 percent were for dairy products.
The number of snacks and fast foods advertised on television is being blamed for an increase in childhood obesity in the United States.
Companies that market "junk foods" spent an
estimated $15 billion in 2002 on advertisements aimed at children.
Snack and fast food companies target children for several reasons. First:
young children are much more impressionable, and likely to fall for the
ploys of food ads. Second: once children see something they want they will
be likely to pester their parents into buying it for them in the grocery
store or fast food restaurant. Third: children today watch more television
than other age groups and will be the most likely to see a food
advertisement.
Not only do advertisements catch a child's attention
with their bright colors and snazzy jingles, but companies also hire highly
recognizable celebrities to promote their products. Pepsi has hired
celebrities such as singers Britney Spears and Beyonce, and Cubs baseball
player Sammy Sosa. In the ad Beyonce was quoted as saying, "For me, to build
a relationship with Pepsi is incredible."
In January 2006 McDonald's and the New York Knicks co-hosted a "Promote the Quote" event which celebrates the birthday and messages of Martin Luther King Jr. at a McDonald's in Manhattan. Students from the Knicks Read to Achieve program were given hamburger and French fry lunches as part of the event.
It is things like this that make children believe that snacks and fast foods are good for them. Companies target children by playing to their age, and their need to be trendy. However, what we see happening is a larger population of unhealthy and obese children in the United States. We have to ask ourselves is this what we want to do to children, to the people that are the future for this world?
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Food advertisements are being blamed for an increase in childhood
obesity
