$1.6 Billion Spent Targeting Kids

[TheMightyFavog]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5472626&page=1

Young people in the United States are no doubt a hot commodity for food and beverage marketers. But a report released Tuesday revealed that those marketers spend a surprising sum selling those products to kids and teens.

Forty-four major food and beverage marketers spent $1.6 billion to promote their products to youth under the age of 17 in 2006, according to a report released today by the Federal Trade Commission.

Often promoted in conjunction with a popular new movie or television show, food ads that appeal to youth combine traditional media like television with previously unmeasured forms of marketing, such as packaging, in-store advertising, sweepstakes and the Internet.

Today at a Washington, D.C., YMCA, 12-year old Marcus Mills said, "Characters have a big impact on what kids want." He added that his cousin recently told him, "I want McDonalds because Ben 10 wants McDonalds."

Perhaps what we need to do is take the approach Sweden has: Ban advertising during E/I programming.