What is ‘good’ marketing and what is ‘bad’? And can the ethics in trying to push products to a demographic that has neither an income nor a job, ever be black and white?
In a recent article, Alex Bogusky, founding partner of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, said it is difficult to find any redeeming value in marketing to children. In fact, he sees the process as destructive.
But Dave McCaughan, regional director of strategic planning, McCann Worldgroup, argues that marketing to children is going on all the time — we just don’t recognise it as such. It happens during parenting, at school and to everyone who is educating their own child or someone elses.
Some countries have taken the legislative route to protect minors. Sweden, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Denmark and Belgium all have bans on advertising to children under 12. Elsewhere, there are ongoing debates about the dangers video games and snack foods pose to children. Some countries have tried to ban the sale of ‘war toys’ for fear the children playing with them will turn into violent adults, while seemingly innocuous cartoon characters such as Donald Duck have been the target of campaigns by people who believe them to be poor role models.
Diet is a touchstone for most parents and rows about whether treats such as ice cream are bad for children’s health have run for decades. McCaughan asks whether ice cream should be marketed to kids. Is it fattening or a healthier option than other snacks? To illustrate the point, some years ago a long running industry campaign in Australia claimed the healthiest after school snack was ice cream and fruit salad.
Matt Harty, VP of Fox Networks Asia-Pacific, believes nothing can stop children being “exploited” by advertising. What is needed, he says, is more self-regulation. Legal ads for casinos, alcohol and tobacco, have been kept out of mainstream advertising, but Harty says there is always a group of players ready to step in.
For example, some countries have banned fast food ads from mainstream media, but this seems only to have shifted the focus. Some of the world’s leading food manufacturers market to children on social networking websites and internet chat programmes. Regulating advertising to children on the internet has proved difficult and brands are happy that internet usage among the young is popular.
Companies such as McDonald’s and Skittles are all using the internet to target children. Perhaps as a result, Bogusky says that more than 10 per cent of 12 to 13 year-olds said they asked their parents more than 50 times for products they had seen advertised.
In Greater China, approximately 300 million children are under the age of 15. Though their purchasing power can be lower than for children elsewhere, an industry source claims this group spends $2.6 billion a year; second only to the US. Figures like these suggest that all children will continue to be targeted by advertisers because of the money they spend, their influence on their parents’ spending and the money they will spend when they grow up.
This article was originally published in the 29 July 2010 issue of Media.