Politics

Despite 2006 "Pledge," Fast Food Companies Targeting Kids More Than Ever

By Anne Landman

In response to growing public pressure about promoting unhealthy food to kids and contributing to the obesity epidemic, the fast food industry did what every industry that produces a harmful product does: it pledged to voluntarily end the harmful practices that started drawing scrutiny to the industry. Accordingly, in 2006 the Council of Better Business Bureaus launched its Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), a voluntary code under which fast food purveyors pledged to promote healthier food choices in their advertising, and use messages hat encourage good nutrition in ads aimed at kids.

As with other voluntary corporate codes, the CFBAI has proven more effective at staving off regulation of the fast food industry than protecting kids from predatory advertising and marketing practices. Since signing onto the Initiative, the fast food industry has found many ways to evade it, and promote unhealthy foods to kids more than ever.

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Full post as published by PR Watch on November 08, 2010 (boomark / email).