Marketers Target Children, Adolescents, Directly Through Social Networking and New Techologies

The Berkeley Media Studies Group and the Center for Digital Democracy on Friday released a new report that documents how major food, soft drink and fast food brands are targeted directly to children and adolescents, often under the radar of parents.

Some of the techniques used are the following: cell phones, instant messaging, video games, user-generated video, and three-dimensional virtual worlds. The full report - "Interactive Food & Beverage Marketing: Targeting Children and Youth in the Digital Age" - is available at http://www.digitalads.org/

Even as junk food marketers claim to be cleaning up their act, the food industry is targeting children in new and more subtle ways. These social networking sites and technologies do not involve parents at all.

A coalition of advocacy groups submitted the report to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today, calling on the agency to expand its investigation of food and beverage marketing to include the full of range of digital marketing to children and adolescents.

Examples cited in the report include:

To "create a compelling way to connect with the younger demographic," 600 McDonald's restaurants in California launched a mobile marketing campaign, urging young cell phone users to text-message to a special phone number to receive an instant electronic coupon for a free McFlurry dessert.

Coca-Cola's "My Coke Rewards" program offers special codes in its products that enable young people to access a website, where they can earn such rewards as downloadable ring tones and "amazing sports and entertainment experiences." This technique is part of a strategy for behavioral profiling, where marketers compile a detailed profile of each customer, including demographic data, purchasing behavior, responses to advertising messages, and even the extent and nature of social networks.