Monday April 12, 2021
Protection for children from the unhealthy
Junk food advertising rules are getting tougher
Funny, colorful characters on sweets and sugary soft drinks: Children are not well enough protected from advertising for unhealthy food, criticize consumer advocates. The advertising industry reacts with new rules of conduct – which should also apply in social networks.
In the future, children and young people should be better protected from advertising for unhealthy food. The Central Association of the German Advertising Industry (ZAW) is planning new rules of conduct that will come into force on June 1st. Most recently, Federal Food Minister Julia Klöckner had repeatedly called on the CDU to tighten the rules of conduct.
Specifically, the age limit will be extended from 12 to 14 years across all existing rules, said ZAW Managing Director Bernd Nauen. For example, food advertisements for children and young adolescents under the age of 14 may not contain direct requests to buy or consume.
Rules not only for classic advertising on TV or radio
“In addition, it is now forbidden to emphasize positive nutritional properties of foods for this age group in advertising, the excessive consumption of which is not recommended – a snack remains a snack,” said Nauen. It is about formulations like: “with the addition of valuable vitamins and minerals”. According to ZAW, the rules still apply not only to classic advertising on TV or radio, but also apply to social networks. Consumer advocates have recently been calling for stricter rules, especially for platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.
“If an influencer advertises food to under-14-year-olds on Instagram on behalf of a company, he too has to comply fully with these rules,” said the managing director of the German Advertising Council, Katja Heintschel von Heinegg. Indicators such as language or the use of comic elements can be used to determine when advertising is aimed at this age group.
Food advertising directed at children is regulated in Germany by the State Treaty on Youth Media Protection between the federal states. This in turn is supplemented by the rules of conduct of the advertising council. The rules of conduct of the advertising council are decided and approved by the advertising industry, which is extensively represented in the ZAW.
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