The Ethical Optimist

I was pleased to see the recent news by Masterfoods in which it will stop marketing its core products to children under the age of 12 by the end of the year. Yet the news reports I read quoted the company as saying, “we will not be advertising these products to children under 12 years of age.”

I wondered as I read it, if by advertising they include their public relations efforts. Very often, companies do not consider their public relations campaigns a form of advertising…yet both are governed by the same laws; just ask Mike Lasky over at Davis & Gilbert (www.dglaw.com).

Years ago, I remember an industry vendor that created in-school campaigns that were offered as supplemental lesson plans for teachers, but were often thinly disguised marketing campaigns. In fact, one involved using M&Ms to teach children how to count and do simple arithmetic.

Also, when these companies say they won’t “market” to children, do they take into account the sale of promotional items using branded characters? In a recent article by Nina Lentini in Media Post, she quotes Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest as commenting on these issues. Wootan asked, “What do they mean by ads? What do they mean by kids under 12? Do they mean TV, do they mean all marketing or cartoon characters on packaging or in ads or online?”

These are great questions because they illustrate the “gray” area more and more marketers face when confronted with similar ethical dilemmas. As media channels converge and children have more access to information via home computers, cell phones and even PSPs, marketers need to review their existing media strategies, guidelines and standards to be sure they are keeping up with technology and social mores (i.e.: the campaign against childhood obesity).

As the public relations representatives of these organizations, we need to take the lead in helping them to identify potential problem areas, as well as marketing opportunities, so they can devise campaigns that are effective, yet do not cross ethical or legal boundaries.