Marketing to Kids Ethically – Part 3

I finished off part 2 with this thought: “In my opinion you advertise to children provided you are not exploiting them. Of course the next question is what is exploitation when marketing to kids.”

Simple – anything that is marketed to children that hides the truth behind the product; or put another way: anything that makes positive claims about a product which although it may be true is actually used to hide the negatives.

What do I mean? well let’s take a look at food brands marketed by large corporations. Many of these foods and drinks are not good for our children as they contain too much salt, sugar, fat and if consumed in large amounts or too often are actually bad for our children.

Don’t get me wrong, I am happy for children to consume these products but only occasssionally and they and their parents should be aware of what is in the the food/ drink they are eating. It’s very simple; just be honest about what your product contains – don’t just sell the positives!

I get that what I’m asking for is just a step too far for the huge conglomerates that make money from selling these products to kids but they have such a high moral responsibility that they must look at whether they really believe they are exploiting kids.

I’m asking for all manufacturers of products that will be consumed by children to tell everyone the truth behind your products; if you have a high level of sugar or fat then say so and advise how often products such as yours should be consumed. Please don’t hide behind “health and fitness” campaigns; be honest and help to educate!

By telling it as it is you are not exploiting anyone and you take the moral high ground. The long term positives in brand trust far outweigh the money to be made from short term “health benefit” strategies that abound today. 

Such honesty should be confined to food and rink but should be widespread; for example the toy and game industry should be looking at the value they are delivering to kids and consider how honest they are being with product descriptions (how much fun every product seems to be!!) and packaging (the big box theory!) etc.

I have a simple incentive. If products admit to the truth about their products and be honest in how much value they bring to kid’s lifestyles, then they should be free again to advertise these products.

Until then, they should not be allowed to market on any media and that includes adult media.

Let’s stamp out exploitation of our kids.  

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