Responsible marketing to children in the US

Abstract

Reviews the history of advertising to children in the USA since the baby boomer generation of post‐World War 2 and the advent of television. Describes how toys were marketed in order to sell cereals, and sweetened cereals were introduced to appeal to children. Outlines the growth of regulation in the form of the National Association of Broadcasters, and subsequently of self‐regulation by the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU). Shows how television has become the main commercial vehicle for children, based on the 30 second commercial and a variety of ways to appeal to them. Outlines concerns such as programme length commercials, i.e. TV programmes based on characters or products from commercials, and about reproducible violence in advertisements. Mentions the self‐defeating nature of advertising industry terms like “nag factor” and “pester power” and the way that CARU’S work has extended into other media like the Internet. Relates all this to the concept of responsible marketing: eating responsibly, playing responsibly, social marketing, and the responsibility of marketers and advertisers.