April,
2007
Marketing
Food to children Clever Advertising in a Health-Conscious Era
By Kindy R. Peaslee, RD
Today’s Dietitian
Vol. 9 No. 4 P. 46
The object of the game is still the same:
to influence children’s food habits. But the rules are
changing as mega-companies such as Disney introduce a more nutritious
appeal.
Food marketing aimed at children is hardly a
new concept. Companies know, parents know, and studies show
that food advertising to kids through media, toys, games, product
packaging, text messaging, and a host of other mediums is effective.
Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director at the Center for Science
in the Public Interest, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C.,
believes marketing in and of itself is not bad. Unfortunately,
over the past decade, we have seen the negative effects of food
marketing on children’s diets when low-nutrient foods
are aggressively marketed to kids. Wootan explains that, sadly,
today’s parents have been out-maneuvered by food marketers
simply because corporations are very savvy with their expert-led
persuasive techniques in market research practices.
To influence children’s food choices,
companies have used cartoon characters, contests, celebrities,
and toy giveaways. Wootan admits that as a parent, she wishes
Shrek would come to her house for dinner and encourage her daughter
to eat her zucchini. With the history of manipulative marketing
to children, parental authority has been undermined. There is
a divide between what parents are telling their children is
healthy to eat and what marketers are promoting as desirable
to eat.
Mary Ann Colegrove, a dietitian in Ohio and
mother of two boys aged 10 and 12, finds that meeting halfway
is the answer when it comes to her boys wanting trendy, fun
foods. Colegrove says, “If my kids think they still are
getting ‘fun’ advertised food and it is more nutritious
than the other options, I feel good about giving it to them.
But I still want to balance it out with other whole foods.”
A dietitian from upstate New York, Kathleen
Sirianni-Blood, mother of a 3-year-old, has already observed
her young son affected by advertising when he asks for Scooby
Doo vitamins and chooses certain juice box brands because of
the characters on them. “I think they could put water
in the box instead of juice, and he’d like it just as
much,” she says.
How Marketers Target
Kids
Children represent an important demographic to marketers because
they, in essence, have their own purchasing power by influencing
their parents’ buying decisions. From the “cradle
to the grave” is how marketers tend to categorize children,
since they are the adult consumers of the future. Market researchers
have found that statistically, parents today are willing to
buy more for their children because of the trends of more disposable
income generated by both parents working and smaller family
sizes. Also, many stressed parents often feel guilty for not
spending enough quality time with their children, and parents
are pulled into the trap of making unbalanced spending decisions
on products for their children.
Marketers employ many strategies to target children
and teens. Marketing to children is all about creating pester
power, a powerful buying force on which advertisers capitalize.
Pester power is defined as children’s ability to nag their
parents into purchasing products they wouldn’t normally
buy. In the words of an advertising executive, “We’re
relying on the kid to pester the mom to buy the product, rather
than us [the advertisers] going straight to the mom.”
Due to increased technology, advertisers can
now engage with researchers and psychologists to analyze children’s
behavior, fantasy lives, and artwork at different ages, then
create sophisticated marketing strategies to reach these young
people.1
Healthy Children’s
Food Trends in 2007
According to an article about new food products by Datamonitor,
a market research company, companies admit that marketing to
children is getting more complicated. Junk food is now getting
a makeover, a trend that parents, who are concerned with both
their own health and their overweight children, are driving.
One example cited was a new healthy product for children called
Fizzy Fruit Sparkling Fresh Grapes, which is adding carbonation
to table grapes for the sole purpose of creating a “new
snacking taste sensation.”
Fruits and vegetables are being made into chips,
ice cream is being enhanced with extra vitamins, and whole grains
and heart-healthy oils are replacing white flour and trans fats
in cookies. Trend spotter Marian Salzman, author of the book
Next Now, says, “The clamor is growing to regulate junk
food marketing aimed at children.” This topic raises a
number of issues—ranging from truth in advertising when
marketing to children to good nutrition.
In October 2006, Disney jumped on the bandwagon
of healthy food marketing by putting a more nutritious spin
on its theme park snack foods. From the Boston Globe to The
New York Times, Disney announced new guidelines that would limit
how much sugar, calories, and fat could be in foods marketed
by companies with which Disney had licensing relationships.
New nutritional standards had to be met, both with Disney brand
food products and in its own theme park restaurants. For example,
side orders of french fries at Disney park restaurants will
default to more healthy choices such as carrots or applesauce.
For years, Disney has licensed its powerful brand of characters
to food companies such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and Kellogg’s.
Most of their existing contracts will end by 2008, and all trans
fats are to be eliminated from foods at Disney theme park restauants
this year.
The Changing Child-Food
Marketing Approach
Although Disney’s move toward nutritious foods is bold,
it is also following a trend among companies that cater specifically
to children and families—to be part of the healthy family
solution and more conscious about the nutritional value of their
products. Disney has the influence and power of the “fun
factor” behind its brand that could encourage kids to
eat healthier. Critics of children’s food advertising
have largely praised Disney but still believe the company could
do more. “I think this is very significant,” says
Wootan. “Disney characters will not show up on Pop-Tarts,
waffles, and fruit snacks. This will allow parents to feed their
children more healthfully.” Wooten continues, “It’s
a great first step, but it can’t be their last. They also
need to address their television advertising.”
Disney’s new nutritional guidelines are
based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, along with the
input from a team of child health and nutrition experts, including
James O. Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at
the University of Colorado, and Keith-Thomas Ayoob, EdD, RD,
FADA, associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine.
Disney’s nutritional guidelines include
the following:
• a cap on calories that results in appropriate
child-sized portions;
• total fat not exceeding 30% of calories
for main and side dishes and 35% for snacks;
• saturated fat not exceeding 10% of calories
for main dishes, side dishes, and snacks;
• added sugar not exceeding 10% of calories
for main dishes and side dishes and 25% of calories for snacks;
and
• an overall limit—15% by 2010—on
the number of “indulgence” items. Seasonal candy
and most special-occasion sweets will be made available in single-serving
packets.
Along with these nutritional guidelines, Disney
has licensed a Disney Garden brand, which will put cartoon characters
on fruit and vegetable packaging. Disney is partnering with
an Indianapolis-based produce distributor, Imagination Farms,
which collaborates with growers from all over the United States.
Examples of produce products include peaches with Daisy Duck
and Goofy stickers and grapes packaged in Mickey and Minnie
Mouse boxes. The vision of both Disney and the produce growers
is eventually to supply the entire produce department with Disney
Garden products and increase the consumption of fresh produce
among kids.
“I respect companies like Disney trying
to help change our children’s relationship with food,”
says Ann Cooper, also known as the “Renegade Lunch Lady”
with a blog about changing school lunches. “It’s
important to counteract the tremendous pressure from the advertising
that ‘hits’ children from the 10,000 commercials
for non-nutrient foods that companies assault them with each
year. Big business spends over $20 billion a year to get kids
to eat food that they shouldn’t, so I applaud any work
that helps to negate that.” Cooper is also the director
of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District
in California and a visionary hoping to transform cafeterias
into culinary classrooms for students.
A 2006 study by the Institute of Medicine recommended
that mascots appealing to children be used only to promote healthy
foods.2 Let’s hope this predicts positive results with
Disney’s healthy actions.
Now collaborating with Disney, General Mills
is an example of what can happen to food companies that follow
media pressure. Remember General Mills’ low-sugar versions
of Trix and Cocoa Puffs introduced in 2004 on the wave of the
child obesity crisis? They didn’t sell well, and General
Mills is now replacing the cereals with new brands that will
still keep the food company’s health-conscious image.
General Mills’ introduction of the low-sugar brands showed
a poorly thought-out response to childhood obesity concerns.
However, this time around, the company is taking a smarter approach
by introducing cereals branded with Disney characters. These
new cereals will adhere to Disney’s nutritional guidelines.3
How Do Children Choose
Food?
The children’s market is unique. Children have significant
influence on the success or failure of a product, although little
or no money actually comes out of their pockets. Just like children
of yesterday, today’s children want to be entertained
and fit in with their peers.
A group of seventh and eighth graders from South
County Secondary School in Lorton, Va., took part in an evaluation
project for the August 2006 issue of the KidsFoodTrends Newsletter.
Six different product categories (chips, snack cakes, candy,
cookies, juices, and sodas) were evaluated based on taste, smell,
color, packaging design, graphics, product name, and advertising.
Results of the evaluation showed that within the chips and cookies
category, packaging was one of the biggest positives in how
the students rated the product. Juices and juice drinks also
scored particularly well visually with high ratings by the students
for packaging design, graphics, and product name. Sodas scored
high on taste, color, packaging, and graphics.4
The packaging and product’s image influence
whether the product will be chosen for consumption. When judging
whether a product is “for them,” children tend to
focus on certain cues. Young people are typically drawn to vibrant
colors and packaging that is easy for small hands to open. Easy-to-grip
bottles, portable containers, and single-serve products are
practical for kids who are always on the move. If fictional
characters are used on the packaging, they need to change as
the child ages—simple, soft, and safe characters for the
younger set and edgier characters as children mature.
The product has to “look right”
when served, since sometimes children don’t see the packaging
if they aren’t involved in shopping or food preparation.
They won’t want to eat food they don’t recognize.
Mixing many ingredients may be a turn-off if some ingredients
are unrecognizable to children. Taste was clearly the most important
factor—children want and expect their food to taste great.
Children are highly affected by TV advertising.
Advertisements alone can make them want to try a new product,
although buying the product is again dependent on whether they
like it. Just like adults, kids are also influenced by what
their friends think. A friend’s recommendation can be
a big reason to try a new product. Children like to see children
they can relate to and identify with featured in TV advertisements.
Since children look up to older children, it is important that
the children featured are either the same age as or preferably
older than the target audience.5
As dietitians, we can be part of the solution
by educating parents to balance children’s diets with
fun foods and whole foods. Creating a healthy culture for our
children to grow up in starts with raising children to be critical
thinkers rather than simply consumers of new products.
It is difficult to predict just how much food
companies and advertisers will complicate children’s food
choices, but one thing is for sure: As RDs, it will be interesting
to watch this play out.
— Kindy R. Peaslee, RD, is the founder of Kindy Creek
Promotions, an upstate New York-based marketing firm specializing
in the promotion of natural and organic food and beverage products.
She can be reached at kindy@kindycreek.com.
Look for her recipe Web site for parents at www.healthy-kid-recipes.com.
References
1. How Marketers Target Kids, Media Awareness
Network. Available here.
2. Food Marketing To Children and Youth: Threat
or Opportunity? Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
of Sciences. Available here.
3 General Mills Rethinks Trix, The Motley Fool. Available here.
4. How Kids Choose Food, KidsFoodTrends Newsletter.
August 2006. Available here.
5. Making Food and Drinks More Irresistible
to Kids, KidsFoodTrends Newsletter. August 2006. Available here.
Dealing with Marketing: What Parents Can Do
• Your clients can educate their children
about advertising and how marketers target young people.
• They can help children understand that
the main goal of advertising is to make them buy certain items,
often ones they don’t need and didn’t even know
they wanted until they saw the ad.
• Parents can explain that advertising
is big business—one of the largest businesses in the world.
• They should discuss the techniques marketers
use to target kids.
• Parents can discuss what advertisers
are not allowed to do when making ads for children. They should
examine commercials and print ads and determine whether they
follow the rules.
• Parents should start to integrate media
literacy questions about advertising into the conversations
they have with their children.
— Source: Media Awareness
Network
Resources
Web
1. Prepared Foods is a new food and beverage
product development magazine. Print subscriptions are free to
persons residing in the United States and Canada. Visit www.preparedfoods.com
to subscribe.
2. Advertising Age is a brand news and information
weekly newspaper on advertising, marketing, and media topics.
Print subscriptions are $99 per year. Visit http://adage.com
to subscribe for a free weekly e-newsletter.
3. Center for Science in the Public Interest,
“Marketing Junk Food to Kids” and “Pestering
Parents” Reports, www.cspinet.org/new/200311101.html
4. The Renegade Lunch Lady, Chef Ann Cooper,
director of nutrition services, Berkeley Unified School District
— Visit Cooper’s blog at www.chefann.com/blog/?p=441.
Books
1. Kidfluence: The Marketer’s Guide to
Understanding and Reaching Generation Y – Kids, Tweens
and Teens by Anne Sutherland and Beth Thompson, McGraw-Hill,
2003
2. The Shelter of Each Other by Mary Pipher,
Vermilion, 1998
3. Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood
by Susan Linn, New Press, 2004
