Food Ads For Children

2 Pages 487 Words

The article “Guidelines Are Urged In Food Ads For Children,” is about a democrat from Iowa, Senator Harkin who criticized the food industry for contributing to childhood obesity by spending $10 Billion last year on marketing to children. Senator Harkin stated in the article that he wants to introduce a bill that will give the Federal Aid Commission the authority to regulate advertising for children. Marketing to children has become a major issue for the $500 billion industry. According to the Center for Diseases Control the number of over weight children in the United States has doubled in the last two decades. 15 percent of American children are over weight or obese. They feel that if the industry develops tough and effective marketing guidelines, that things will become a lot better for children with weight problems. Kraft Food announced that it would stop television advertising of certain products they considered unhealthy for children under 12. Senator Harkin wants to promote more physical activity like P.E. in schools.
One topic that this article relates to that was spoken about in class is social responsibility. In the article they explained how Kraft Food stopped adverting unhealthy products and started to advertise the healthier products instead like Sugar-Free Kool-Aid, and 100-calorie pack of thin crisp Oreos. This shows that the idea of businesses should not function amorally, but instead should contribute to the welfare of their communities. In effort to promote physical activity, McDonald’s last week announced a global marketing campaign featuring athletes and information about a “balanced lifestyle”. Another topic that this article relates to that was spoken about in class is marketing ethics. This relates to the article because ethically what the food industry is doing is wrong. According to Mr. Jacobson “companies are taking a pot of white flour and a pot of refined sugar and adding maybe some fat, food c...