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Advertising to Children

How much is spent on advertising to children?
Does food and beverage advertising have an influence on children?
Are young children more vulnerable to this influence?
How are ads to children regulated in Canada?
resources

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How much is spent on advertising to children?
In 1998, marketers spent about $10 billion on TV and radio ads alone in Canada. Marketing expenditures are higher in the U.S. on a per capita basis and most of these marketing messages are equally available to Canadians via TV, radio, the Internet and other media. In 2004, gross marketing expenditures in the U.S. for all products was $264 billion. In 2005, Kraft Foods alone spent $1.3 billion on marketing, or $400 million more than the total annual budget of the World Health Organization. Total spending by companies on all advertising and marketing directed at children and youth in the U.S. is now estimated at $15 billion.

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Does food and beverage advertising have an influence on children?
Yes. The most recent and comprehensive systematic review of evidence on this question by the U.S. Institute of Medicine found:
- the influence was much stronger for younger children (aged 2-11 years) compared to older children and youth (aged 12-18 years).
- strong evidence that TV advertising influences young children’s food and beverage preferences, purchase requests and short-term consumption.
- strong evidence of a link between children and youth’s exposure to TV advertising and adiposity (excess body fat),  but not enough evidence is available to establish a causal relationship.

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Are young children more vulnerable to this influence?
Yes, common sense tells us that younger children don’t have the cognitive abilities to effective understand the persuasive intent of advertising messages but research has established this as well. This was proven as far back as 1978 by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission Staff Report on Television Advertising to Children and reiterated by the 1989 Supreme Court of Canada ruling, the 2003 UK Food Standards Agency review and the 2006 U.S. Institute of Medicine review. The latter noted that most children aged eight years and under do not effectively comprehend the persuasive intent of marketing messages and younger children, four and under, cannot consistently tell the difference between television ads and programming.

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How are ads to children regulated in Canada?
Advertising to children is primarily regulated by the advertising industry in Canada. This is similar to the U.S., however in Canada TV commercials directed at children must be prescreened by the Children’s Clearance Committee of the industry self-regulatory body Advertising Standards Canada.

Commercial advertising to children under 13 in Quebec has been prohibited by law since 1980. The ban only applies to ads originating within Quebec and does not prohibit educational advertising such as promoting healthy eating to children. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the ban in a 1989 ruling which stated that “...advertising directed at young children is per se manipulative. Such advertising aims to promote products by convincing those who will always believe”.

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Resources
Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada (2006). Background Paper: Marketing and Advertising of Food and Beverages to Children. http://www.cdpac.ca/content/pdf/background%20paperfeb16.5.pdf.

Hastings, G., Stead, M., McDermott, L., Forsyth, A., MacKintosh, A.M., Rayner, M., Godfrey, C., Caraher, M. & Angus, K. (2003). Review of Research on the Effects of Food Promotion to Children: Final Report. Prepared for the U.K. Food Standards Agency. Centre for Social Marketing, Glasgow. Available from http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/foodpromotiontochildren1.pdf.

Irwin Toy Ltd. v. Québec (AG) (1989) 1 S.C.R. 927. Supreme Court of Canada Decision. Available from www.canlii.org.

McGinnis, J.M., Gootman, J.A. & Kraak, V.I. (Eds.) (2006). Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity? Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.

Ratner, E.M., Hellegers, J.F., Stern, G.P., Ogg, R.C., Adair, S. & Zacharias, L. (1978). FTC Staff Report on Television Advertising to Children. Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission.

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