Food firms text sweet ads to children
The Sunday Times
Food firms text sweet ads to children
by Lois Rogers and Jonathon Carr-Brown
MANUFACTURERS are using text messages to target children’s mobile phones with advertisements for sweets and snacks in a move that will enrage anti-obesity campaigners.
The news comes just days after the Commons health select committee criticised the food industry’s promotional “onslaught” on children in a damning report that castigates the government’s failure to tackle obesity.
Children are encouraged to text a number or a word to see if they have won a prize under campaigns that have been run by companies such as Masterfoods, the maker of Mars bars, Walkers Snacks, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. The companies can then send back promotional information and retain the sender’s number.
Healthy eating campaigners are outraged by this latest use of mobile technology. Debra Shipley, Labour MP for Stourbridge, said: “I’m shocked to hear of this cynical targeting of young people. It’s outrageous.”
Shipley is trying to pass a children’s food bill that calls on the Food Standards Agency to regulate the advertising of food based on its nutritional quality.
“If the government fails to act, it is clear it is working hand in glove with the vested interests of the food industry rather than for the best interest of children,” she said.
John Reid, the health secretary, is looking at moves that could ban junk food manufacturers from advertising during children’s television programmes. Reid’s aides say he may consider “the nuclear option” of banning advertising when children, rather than adults who can make their own decisions, are watching programmes.
But it is not clear how “junk food” would be defined and ministers would face a huge amount of lobbying. The move could also see more manufacturers switching to other ploys such as texting.
Ian Tokelove, spokesman for the Food Commission, said: “Companies are using text messaging as a way of influencing children while keeping parents out of the loop. They can apply direct pressure on children and the majority of it is for unhealthy foods.”
The leading firm in the field is 12snap, a specialist mobile phone marketing company. Matt Jones, the company’s business development manager, said texting is becoming an increasingly effective way of contacting potential customers.
“Brands build up a relationship with the person texting in, get close to them. It’s the easiest and most convincing way to talk to a teenage audience,” he said.
“I understand concerns about marketing snack foods but if companies can get in the minds of a teenage audience like this then maybe their healthy competitors should look at using the same medium.”
More than 50% of children aged between seven and 15 own mobile phones, according to a recent NOP survey.
The Food Standards Agency published evidence last year that there was a clear link between the types of food promoted to children and what they ate. The food industry refuses to admit there is a direct link but continues to invest heavily in advertising.
Walkers used texts in its Txt2Win campaign, which was advertised on 270m packets of crisps and offered children the chance to win free credit for their phone. The McDonald’s txt-a-monster campaign was also aimed at children.
Last year it was revealed that the snack industry had drawn up a blueprint for using mobile phones to increase sales to children. The report on the lucrative after-school snacking market provided firms with information on how to get their message to youngsters and protect their profits in the face of a dwindling population and growing fears about obesity.
It contains controversial suggestions such as increasing the use of text messaging in snack promotions as a way of bypassing parents, and targeting poorer children aged seven to 10 on the grounds that they spend more on crisps and treats.
The report by Mintel, the market research firm, described after-school snacking as an enormous opportunity to generate profits. It says there are 9m children aged seven to 16 who can buy food on their way home.
The report also says that companies should consider changing their promotional techniques to counter possible curbs on advertising during children’s television programmes.
It adds: “In the future, young consumers may find themselves under closer scrutiny and be steered towards a healthier eating regime where crisps and sweets are limited in favour of items such as sandwiches, fruit and yoghurt.”
Last week’s report by the health select committee blamed government inaction for the fact that almost three-quarters of the population is now overweight or obese, and criticised ministers for allowing advertising and sponsorship deals from the fast-food industry to subsidise sport to the tune of £40m a year.
The scale of the problem has also exposed bickering among ministers. Peter Hain, the leader of the Commons, last week called the government’s endorsement of a Cadbury’s sweet-wrappers-for-goalposts scheme “pretty indefensible” on BBC1’s Question Time.
The Cadbury’s Get Active promotion, launched last year, encouraged pupils to swap chocolate wrappers for school sports equipment. However, it was dropped when critics pointed out that 5,440 wrappers were needed to secure one football net. Richard Caborn, the sports minister who endorsed the scheme, has refused to comment on Hain’s remarks.
On Tuesday the government will face a further barrage of criticism when it receives reports from the eight groups it set up to advise on the contents of the public health white paper, which will suggest how to tackle the obesity problem.
The groups will attack government inertia and call on ministers to curb sports promotions by snack companies. The fast-food industry is now the third largest contributor to British sport after financial services and alcohol manufacturers.
“We are going in pretty strong,” said Paul Ennals, chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau and leader of the advisory taskforce on better health for young people.
“We recognise there is a reluctance to ban things, but government has a moral and legal duty to safeguard children. These promotions are not about health or sport; they are about securing market share and promoting products that increase the obesity problem.”
The Football Association is facing mounting pressure to sever its links with McDonald’s, which is promoting its burgers through a £15m sponsorship of England’s bid for the Euro 2004 championship starting next month.
The FA has hit back at the criticism. “We have consistently called upon government to increase investment in sporting facilities and infrastructure in order to get the nation more active,” said Andrin Cooper, its spokesman. “Public investment in sport in the UK is the lowest per capita among the major European countries.”
In addition to a clampdown on sport sponsorship, the taskforces are also looking for curbs on fast-food advertising in schools and on television.
Privately, however, Department of Health officials admit that there is a paralysis over what to put in the white paper, originally due out this summer but now postponed until the autumn.
Ministers are wary of accusations of nannying the public. “We know people don’t want to be told how to run their lives, but we don’t really have a mechanism for finding out what sort of measures they would put up with,” said one official.
Some pressure groups have a more aggressive attitude. Last year the Food Commission presented its annual “greedy star” award to Gary Lineker, the former England football captain, for promoting Walkers crisps to children.
The commission also condemned David Beckham, the present England football captain, for promoting Pepsi.
“Pepsi and McDonald’s are not part of the nutritional regimes of our top athletes. They are effectively encouraging children to put on weight,” said Annie Seeley, a commission nutritionist.
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