Food manufacturers target children on internet after regulator's TV advertising clampdown [View All]

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Interesting report in The Guardian, 31 July 2007, here: http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2138178,00.html

Thrown out of TV, "Some of the world's leading food manufacturers have begun marketing to children on social networking websites and internet chat programs."

"Brands such as McDonald's, Starburst, Haribo and Skittles are using the internet to target children now that new rules from the media regulator Ofcom have made it difficult to advertise during children's television."

It's free market - on-line. It's globalization at its worst. It's profiting on children's defenseless imagination.
It's parents' lack of control. It's all about money.

"At the beginning of July, the sweet brand Skittles paid a six-figure sum to set up a profile on the social networking site Bebo which has already been viewed more than 50,000 times and attracted more than 3,500 "friends". In an interview with the Guardian, a Bebo spokesman described these "friends" as "brand ambassadors". Bebo users have to declare they are at least 13, but it is known that much younger children do use the site."

"McDonald's chief marketing officer for northern Europe, Jill McDonald, admitted to the Guardian that the company did not need to advertise to children to make a profit, but said it was using its marketing as a force for good."

Social network being on the rise everywhere in the world (eMarketer reports), charming Companies find an easy way to create "buddy" communities in which their logo is always in the spotlight - should one ever forget what the whole thing's about.

Happy Times for you all, brands on the internet at all levels.
Will there be an end? That day I'll be there to enjoy your losses.

(But I think I won't last that long.)