News & Events
Jul /20/2010
Fast Food Marketing: New Frontiers
Children watch, on average, an hour of fast food commercials on television each week – more time than many children spend playing outside.[1][2] But that’s just the beginning. Product tie-ins to their favorite television shows are everywhere, from popular TV cartoon characters like the Simpsons appearing on Burger King wrappers, to animated film icon Shrek appearing all over McDonald’s Happy Meals boxes.
The toys in Happy Meals are themselves a big draw for children to convince their parents to take them to these restaurants. In 2006, fast food restaurants sold more than 1.2 billion kids meals with toys.[3] But kids can’t drive themselves to the restaurant; fast food corporations purposefully exploit the tendency of children to nag parents for toys as a way to lure the whole family into their establishments.
In the online world, “advergames,” like the Pink Panther “Catch the Tornado” game on Burger King’s website, directly appeal to kids.[4] And the average amount of time children spend playing these games – nearly a half-hour – is far more than the average commercial.[5] Sometimes fast food restaurants will let kids download games directly to their cell phone, or text message promotions to them.[6] Toys like the Pizza Hut Deluxe Play Delivery Set or the McDonald’s Cash Register with Headset and Food allow children to spend hours playing and being marketed to simultaneously.
The Institute of Medicine and public health advocates recommend that corporations stop using cartoon characters to promote junk food.[7] But will the fast food giants listen?
For more information about the insidious ways these corporations target our kids, visit the Center for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
1. “Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising to Children in the United States,” The Kaiser Family Foundation Report, (March, 2007) http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/7618ES.pdf.
2. Shin-Yi Chou, et al., “Fast-Food Restaurant Advertising on Television and Its Influence on Childhood Obesity,” Journal of Law and Economics, v.51(November, 2008) University of Chicago.
3. Federal Trade Commission (2006). Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities, and Self-Regulation: A Federal Trade Commission Report To Congress.
4. Burger King Kids Club “Pink Panther Catch the Tornado” http://www.clubbk.com/Flash/Default.aspx (accessed February 12, 2009).
5. Michele Simon, Appetite for Profit, (New York, NY: Nation Books, 2006), 248-249.
6. J. Chester, and K. Montgomery, “Interactive food & beverage marketing: Targeting children and youth in the digital age: An update,” Berkeley Media Studies Group (July, 2008). http://bmsg.org/documents/DigitalMarketingFullReport.pdf.
7. Food and Nutrition Board “Progress in preventing childhood obesity: How do we measure up?” Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (September 13, 2006), 167-227.
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