Advertising junk food to children is a contentious issue, withcampaigners and the food industry engaging in claim and counter-claim. Anew 43-page report from the leading consumer-campaign group Which? takesan in-depth look at what's actually going on. The report claims touncover the inadequacies of company policies and inconsistencies betweenthese policies and practice.
For example, Weetabix says "it does not target children in anyadvertising," according to Which?. But in May the cereal company offeredpackets of Merlin football stickers in boxes of high-sugar Weetos andchildren were encouraged to "keep looking in special packs" to findtheir favourite stars.
In July, the Skittles web site, owned by Masterfoods, let teams of boysand girls compete for Robbie Williams tickets. The site also offered a"buddyPing" account where children could text their location to Skittlesand it would text back the location of their friends. But, according toWhich?, Masterfoods says: "We do not advertise to children. We takespecial care not to emphasise peer pressure and not to generatepestering."
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