Works Cited

Works Cited
"Approximately how much money is spent each year marketing food products to
children?." 2007. Cooperative Extension Service. 10 Aug. 2009 http://www.extension.org/faq/37642.

Berry, Brent. and McMullen, Taralyn. "Visual Communication to Children in the Supermarket" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological
Association, TBA, New York, New York City, Aug 11, 2007. 2009-05-24 http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p184553_index.html

"Fast Food and Children and Adolescents: Implications for Practictioners." Clinical
Pediatrics 44.4 (2005): 279-88.
Gallo, Anthony E. Food Advertising in the United States. 2003. Chapter 9. 10 Aug. 2009
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib750/aib750i.pdf.

Gamble, Margaret, and Nancy Cotugna. "A Quarter Century of TV Food Advertising
Targeted at Children." American Journal of Health Behavior 23.4 (1999): 261-67. 10 Aug. 2009 http://www.atypon-link.com/PNG/doi/abs/10.5555/ajhb.1999.23.4.261.

Integrating Results from Children's Television Advertising Research
Alan J. Resnik, Bruce L. Stern, Barbara Alberty Journal of Advertising, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Summer, 1979), pp. 3-12+48 Published by: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4188264

Kunkel, Dale, Brian Wilcox, JoAnn Cantor, Edward Palmer et al.. "." . 20 THE APA
TASK FORCE ON ADVERTISING AND CHILDREN. Feb. 2004. 15 Aug. 2009 http://www.apa.org/releases/childrenads.pdf.

Mikkelson, Barbara. "Taking it E.T." 7 Feb. 2007. 19 Aug. 2009
http://www.snopes.com/business/market/mandms.asp.

Ruskin, Gary. "The Fast Food Trap: How Commercialism Creates Overweight Children."
31 Oct. 2003. 10 Aug. 2009 http://www.commercialalert.org/issues/health/childhood-obesity/the-fast-food-trap-how-commercialism-creates-overweight-children.

Final Paper

Stephanie Meeks
http://stephmeekseng201.blogspot.com/
Eng 201.501
Essay #2 Final Draft
1,403 words

Children targeted by advertisers

As I sit with my brother in law, who is six years old, watching TV I am bombarded by requests for food and toys that he sees on television. We are not watching adult shows like I would watch we are watching kid’s networks such as: Disney, Cartoon Network, or Nickelodeon. It appears he is more interested in the advertisements on the commercials than he is the show that is on. He is so tuned into the commercial that I can’t even get his attention during one. I have always wondered what makes him so fascinated in the advertisements and why he wants everything he sees on the television. In recent years the food and beverage industry in the United States has viewed children and adolescents as a major market force. As a result, children and adolescents are now the target of intense and specialized food marketing and advertising efforts. In 1982 after the release of the children’s movie ET Reese’s candy sales increased 65% in one month due to being placed in the movie. (Mikkelson) So, what has caused advertisers to market to children so heavily, and what negative consequences arise from this?

Advertising is central to the marketing of the United States food supply. Marketing is defined as an activity an organization engages in to facilitate an exchange between itself and its customers/clients. The American food system is one of the largest advertisers and is also the leading buyer of television, newspaper, magazine, billboard, and radio advertisements. Estimates are as high as $10 billion spent on advertising all types of food and beverages to America’s children and youth. According to the Federal Trade Commission report, "Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities, and Self-Regulation," 44 major food and beverage marketers spent $1.6 billion to promote their products to children under 12 and adolescents ages 12 to 17 in the United States in 2006. (Money Spent on Advertising) Why is so much money spent on advertising? First of all the food market captures approximately 12.5 percent of consumer income, Second, food is a repeat purchase item. Last but not least food is one of the most highly branded items in the American economy. (Gallo)
There are many tactics used in fast food advertising. Fast food businesses will claim promotions such as toys with kid’s meals provide a pleasant visit to their store for the parents. In reality this is a tactic used by advertisers to bait children to desire their products. Multiple techniques and channels are used to reach youth, beginning when they are toddlers, to foster brand-building and influence food product purchase behavior. These food marketing channels include television, in-school marketing, product placements, kids clubs, the Internet, toys and products with brand logos, and youth targeted promotions.

Children today have more purchasing power than ever before. They are the consumers of tomorrow. Because they influence their parents on purchases, it opens a whole new audience for marketers. Children are much more vocal than they used to be and are not afraid to speak up when they want something. Advertisers call this pester power; most others call it nagging. In other words, kids aren’t afraid to kick and scream to get their parents to buy them something. Fast food advertising to children is all about pester power. Marketers rely on children to nag their parents rather than advertise to parents directly.

The heavy marketing directed towards youth, especially young children under the age of five, is driven largely by the desire to build and develop brand recognition and brand loyalty. Marketers believe that brand preference begins before purchase behavior. Brand preferences in children appear to be related to two major factors; 1) Children’s positive experiences with a brand and 2) Parents liking that brand. A child’s first request for a product occurs at about 24 months of age. Seventy-five percent of the time this request is made in a grocery store. Approximately 50% of these requests are for sugared brand name cereals. (Berry, 45)

The largest single source of media messages about food to children, especially younger children, is television. Over 75% of United States food manufacturers’ advertising budgets and 95% of United States fast food budgets are allocated to television. (Gallo) Food is the most frequently advertised product category on United States children’s television. Children view on average one food commercial every five minutes of television viewing time and may see as many as three hours of food commercials a week. This is approximately 25,000 commercials viewed annually. (Integrating Results, 3) A recent study looked at United States food advertising during 52.5 hours of Saturday morning children’s programming. 564 food advertisements were shown. Of these ads, 44% promoted food from the fats and sweets group, such as candy, soft drinks, chips, cakes, cookies, and pastries. Advertising of fast food restaurants comprised 11% of total advertisements. (Gamble, Cotugna, 263) Television gives advertisers a way to walk though the front door of a home and speak directly to the children. What is noteworthy and utterly revealing about advertising to children is that it almost always is for things that most parents would not themselves choose for their kids, especially in regard to food.

The trends in fast food consumption have changed drastically over the past several decades. Currently, fast food restaurants are often the overall choice for food away from home. Socioeconomic trends, such as longer working hours, more women employed outside the home, and a high number of single-parents households, have changed the way Americans obtain their meals. As parents experience busier lifestyles, they demand convenience for their family meals. The increasing reliance on fast food is fostered because of the quick service, convenience, good taste, and inexpensive prices relative to more traditional table-service restaurants. Between 1977 and 1996, the percentage of meals eaten at fast food establishments increased 200%. More than 45% of today’s food dollars are spent on food that is eaten out, a value predicted to exceed 53% by 2010. According to a recent national household survey, 30% of youths between the age of 4 and 19 years old consume fast food on a typical day. School aged children and adolescents spend 8 billion and 13 billion dollars, respectively, of their own money on fast food. (Fast Food and Children)They also exert a strong influence on their parents’ choices of quick service establishments.

The rise of childhood obesity in America is part of a larger story: how corporations have laid claim to children’s imagination. Parents are finding themselves increasingly on the defense, fending off, deflecting, combating, and all too often making grudging compromises with the cravings that corporate marketers conjure in their kids. In the case of food, those cravings generally are for foods that parents wish their children didn’t want, and for good reason. Almost without exception, they are foods that might as well have been specifically designed to make kids fat. Depending on how you measure it, between 15 and 24 percent of American children are overweight. This is three times more than the rate of the 1970’s.(Ruskin) Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had this to say,” The number one health problem in the United States is not SARS, it is not emerging infectious diseases. It is the epidemic of obesity that we are watching unfold before our eyes.”(Ruskin) The epidemic of childhood obesity is a tragedy for many reasons, and it portends poorly for the health of our entire nation in the coming decades. There are many causes for this unfortunate trend, but the number one cause is the persistent theme of how corporations have insinuated themselves into virtually every corner of children’s lives. It is as if they have written the master script for children’s’ interactions with their own families.

Clearly, advertising represents "big business" in the United States and can have a significant effect on young people. Nutrition during childhood and adolescence is essential for growth and development, health, and well being. Eating behaviors established during childhood track into adulthood and contribute to long term health and chronic disease risk. Numerous studies have shown that young children have little understanding of the persuasive intent of advertising. Prior to age seven, children tend to view advertising as fun, entertaining, and unbiased information. (Kunkel, 6) It is essential to educate children and teenagers about the effects that advertising may have on them as consumers.

Executioners Outline for Children targeted by advertisers
Thesis Statement: what has caused advertisers to market to children so heavily, and what negative consequences arise from this?
Intro Strategy: narrative, interesting fact
Topic Sentence: Advertising is central to the marketing of the United States food
supply.
A. one of the largest.
B. Estimates are as high as $10 billion spent on advertising all types of food and beverages to America’s children and youth. (Money spent on Advertising)
C. Why is so much money spent on advertising? (Gallo)
Topic Sentence: There are many tactics used in fast food advertising
A. Fast food promotions
B. Multiple techniques and channels are used to reach youth
a. These food marketing channels include television, in-school marketing, product placements, kids clubs, the internet, toys and products with brand logos, and youth targeted promotions
Topic Sentence: Children today have more purchasing power
A. Children are much more vocal than they used to be and they are not afraid to speak up when they want something
B. Marketers rely on children to nag their parents rather than advertise to parents directly.
Topic Sentence: What drives the heavy marketing
A. Brand preferences in children appear to be related to two major factors; 1) Children’s positive experiences with a brand and 2) Parents liking that brand.
B. A child’s first request for a product occurs at about 24 months of age.(Berry)
C. Seventy-five percent of the time this request is made in a grocery store. Approximately 50% of these requests are for sugared brand name cereals. (Berry, 45)
Topic Sentence: The largest single source of media messages about food to children, especially younger children, is television
A. Over 75% of United States food manufacturers’ advertising budgets and 95% of United States fast food budgets are allocated to television. (Gallo)
B. Children view on average of one food commercial every five minutes of television viewing time, and may see as many as three hours of food commercials a week. (Integrating Results, 3)
C. In a study that examined United States food advertising during 52.5 hours of Saturday morning children’s programming. (Gamble, Cotugna, 263)
D. Things that parents would not want for their kids
Topic Sentence: The trends in fast food consumption have changed drastically over the past several decades.
A. Currently, fast food restaurants are often the overall choice for food away from home.
B. As parents experience busier lifestyles, they demand convenience for their family meals.
C. . Between 1977 and 1996, the percentage of meals eaten at fast food establishments increased 200%. According to a recent national household survey, 30% of youths between the age of 4 and 19 years old consume fast food on a typical day. School aged children and adolescents spend 8 billion and 13 billion dollars, respectively, of their own money on fast food. (Fast Food and Children)
Topic Sentence: The rise of childhood obesity in America is part of a larger story
A. Depending on how you measure it, between 15 and 24 percent of American children are overweight (Ruskin)
B. This is three times more than the rate of the 1970’s.(Ruskin)
C. There are many causes for this unfortunate trend, but the number one cause is the persistent theme of how corporations have insinuated themselves into virtually every corner of children’s lives.
Conclusion: Ways to offset the effect commercialism is having on our children

Stephanie Meeks
http://stephmeekseng201.blogspot.com/
Eng 201.501
Essay #2 Rough Draft
1,266 words

Advertising to Children
In recent years, the food and beverage industry in the United States has viewed children and adolescents as a major market force. As a result, children and adolescents are now the target of tense and specialized food marketing and advertising efforts. Food marketers are interested in youth as consumers because of their spending power, their purchasing influence, and as future adult consumers.
Children today have more purchasing power, they are consumers of tomorrow, and because they do influence their parents on purchases, it opens a whole new audience for marketers. Children are much more vocal than they used to be and they are not afraid to speak up when they want something. Advertisers call this pester power. Most others call it nagging. In other words, kids aren’t afraid to kick and scream to get their parents to buy them something. Fast food advertising to children is all about pester power. Marketers rely on children to nag their parents rather than advertise to parents directly. One category of pester power is importance nagging. This is all about providing for your children and the guilt that comes with not being available enough for them.


There are many tactics used in fast food advertising. Fast food businesses will claim promotions such as toys with happy meals are to provide a pleasant visit to their store for the parents but n reality it is baiting children to desire fast food. Multiple techniques and channels are used to reach youth, beginning when they are toddlers, to foster brand-building and influence food product purchase behavior. These food marketing channels include television, in-school marketing, product placements, kids clubs, the internet, toys and products with brand logos, and youth targeted promotions.
Advertising is central to the marketing of the United States food supply. Marketing is defined as an activity an organization engages in to facilitate an exchange between itself and its customers/clients. The United States food system is the second largest advertiser in the American economy, the first being the automotive industry. The food system is also the leading buyer of television, newspaper, magazine, billboard, and radio advertisements. It is estimated that over one billion dollars is spent on media advertising to children, mostly on television. In addition, over4.5 billion is spent on youth-targeted promotions and roughly three billion is spent on packing specifically designed for children.
The heavy marketing directed towards youth, especially young children, is driven largely by the desire to build and develop brand recognition and brand loyalty. Marketers believe that brand preference begins before purchase behavior. Brand preferences in children appear to be related to two major factors, 1. Children’s positive experiences with a brand and 2. Parents liking that brand. A child’s first request for a product occurs at about 24 months of age. Seventy-five percent of the time this request is made in a grocery store. Approximately 50% of these requests are for sugared brand name cereals.
The largest single source of media messages about food to children, especially younger children, is television. Over 75% of United States food manufacturers’ advertising budgets and 95% of United States fast food budgets are allocated to television. Food is the most frequently advertised product category on United States children’s television and food ads account for over 50% of all ads targeting children. Children view on average of one food commercial every five minutes of television viewing time, and may see as many as three hours of food commercials a week. In a study that examined United States food advertising during 52.5 hours of Saturday morning children’s programming, 564 food advertisements were shown. Of these ads, 44% promoted food from the fats and sweets group, such as candy, soft drinks, chips, cakes, cookies, and pastries. Fast food restaurants advertising comprised 11% of total food advertisements. . Television gives advertisers a way to walk though the front door of a home and speak directly to the children. The average American child watches 19 hours and 40 minutes of TV per week. That means an annual exposure to thousands of commercials for junk food and fast food. What it noteworthy and utterly revealing about advertising to children is that it almost always is for things that most parents would not themselves choose for their kids, especially in regard to food.
The trends in fast food consumption have changed drastically over the past several decades. Currently, fast food restaurants are often the overall choice for food away from home. Socioeconomic trends, such as longer working hours, more women employed outside the home, and a high number of single-parents households, have changed the way Americans obtain their meals. As parents experience busier lifestyles, they demand convenience for their family meals. The increasing reliance on fast food is fostered because of the quick service, convenience, good taste, and inexpensive prices relative to more traditional table-service restaurants. Between 1977 and 1996, the percentage of meals eaten at fast food establishments increased 200%. More than 45% of today’s food dollars are spent on food that is eaten out, a value predicted to exceed 53% by 2010. according to a recent national household survey, 30$ of youths between the age of 4 and 19 years old consume fast food on a typical day. School aged children and adolescents spend 8 billion and 13 billion dollars, respectively, of their own money on fast food. They also exert a strong influence on their parents’ choices of quick service establishments.
The rise of childhood obesity in America is part of a larger story: how corporations have laid claim to children’s imagination and play- to childhood itself. In the process of redefining children as “consumers”, corporations have redefined as well the nature of childhood disease. Depending on how you measure it, between 15 and 24 percent of American children are overweight. This is three times more than the rate of the 1970’s. Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had this to say,” The number one health problem in the United States is not SARS, it is not emerging infectious diseases. It is the epidemic of obesity that we are watching unfold before our eyes.” The epidemic of childhood obesity is a tragedy for many reasons, and it portends poorly for the health of our entire nation in the coming decades. There are many causes for this unfortunate trend, but the number one cause is the persistent theme of how corporations have insinuated themselves into virtually every corner of children’s lives and they have written the master script for children’s interactions with their own families and society at large. Parents are finding themselves increasingly on the defense, fending off, deflecting, combating, and all too often making grudging compromises with the cravings that corporate marketers conjure in their kids. In the case of food, those cravings generally are for things that parents wish their children didn’t want, and for good reason. Almost without exception, they are foods that might as well have been specifically designed to make kids fat.
Clearly, advertising represents "big business" in the United States and can have a significant effect on young people. Nutrition during childhood and adolescence is essential for growth and development, health, and well being. Eating behaviors established during childhood track into adulthood and contribute to long term health and chronic disease risk. Numerous studies have shown that young children have little understanding of the persuasive intent of advertising. Prior to age 7, children tend to view advertising as fun, entertaining, and unbiased information. It is essential to educate children and teenagers about the effects that advertising may have on them as consumers.

















Works Cited
Children and the Changing World of Advertising Elizabeth S. Moore Journal of Business
Ethics, Vol. 52, No. 2, Ethical Issues in Business: Perspectives from the Business Academic Community (Jun., 2004), pp. 161-167 Published by: Springer .Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25123243
Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing Sandra L. Calvert The Future of
Children,Vol. 18, No. 1, Children and Electronic Media (Spring, 2008), pp. 205-234 Published by: Princeton University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20053125
Integrating Results from Children's Television Advertising Research
Alan J. Resnik, Bruce L. Stern, Barbara Alberty Journal of Advertising, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Summer, 1979), pp. 3-12+48 Published by: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4188264
"What Kids Are Watching: Food Ads On TV.” Child Health Alert 23 (Oct. 2005):
5-5. Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCO. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 10 Aug. 2009.
Connor, Susan M. "Food-Related Advertising on Preschool Television: Building
Brand Recognition in Young Viewers ." PEDIATRICS 118.4 (2006): 1478-85. Health Source- Consumer Request. USI. 10 Aug. 2009 .
Eagle, Lynne, and Ross Brennan. "Beyond advertising: In-home promotion of
'fast food.'." Young Consumers 8.4 (2007): 278-288. PsycINFO. EBSCO. Evansville, IN, [State abbreviation]. 11 Aug. 2009 .
Harris, Jennifer L., John A. Bargh, and Kelly D. Brownell. "Priming effects of
television food advertising on eating behavior." Health Psychology 28.4 (July 2009): 404-413. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 11 Aug. 2009.
Hoek, Janet, and Philips Gendall. "Advertising and Obesity: A Behavioral
Perspective."Journal of Health Communication 11.4 (June 2006): 409-423. PsycINFO. EBSCO. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 11 Aug. 2009 .
EBSCO.Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 10 Aug. 2009 .
Page, Randy M., and Aaron Brewster. "Emotional and rational product appeals
in Televised food advertisements for children: Analysis of commercials shown on US broadcast networks." Journal of Child Health Care 11 (2007): 323-40. 10 Aug. 2009 .
Powell, Lisa M., Glen Szczypka, and Frank J. Chaloupka. "Adolescent exposure to food
advertising on television." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 33.4 (Oct. 2007): S251-SS256. PsycINFO. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 14 Aug. 2009 live&scope=site>.
Probyn, Elspeth. "Chapter 2: FEEDING McWORLD, EATING IDEOLOGIES." 35-60.
Routledge, 2000. SocINDEX with Full Text. EBSCO. 11 Aug. 2009 .
RABIN, RONI CARYN. "TV Ads Contribute to Childhood Obesity, Economists Say."
New York Times (21 Nov. 2008): 1. Academic Search Premier.
Rouse, James . "Fast Food Advertising To Children." 6 Nov. 2008. 10 Aug. 2009
Story, Mary, and Simone French. "Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at
Children and Adolescents in the US." 10 Feb. 2004. Pub Med Central. 10 Aug. 2009 .

The research I have done in the last week has been very eye-opening. At first I was just doing fast food advertising but then I started thinking about my own life. I then changed my research topic to advertising to children. I have found a lot of information about this. There are people on both sides of this story. Advertisers see children as their greatest profit maker. Parents and health professionals see these ads as detrimental to their child’s future health. I have seen in my research that in the last few years there has been a shift in advertising to children. Companies are now trying to advertise healthier foods to children, rather than the high calorie and fattening foods they have advertised in the past. I have a really hard time with coming up with a thesis but at this time I think my thesis will be along the lines of how advertisers target children to market their products to. My purpose of writing at this point, I am pretty sure, is to make my readers aware of the tactics that marketers use that the every day individual may not even be aware of. I am really glad that I have decided to switch my topic since posting my game plan. I have found that I am much more interested in advertising to kids rather than just plain marketing. I did not know how interested I was in this topic before seeing an article about it and deciding to choose it as my research topic.

Harrison, Kristen, and Amy Marske. "Nutritional Content of Foods Advertised During
The Television Programs Children Watch Most." American Journal of Public Health 95.9 (Sep. 2005): 1568-1574. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. EBSCO. 11 Aug. 2009 . Snack, convenience, and fast foods and sweets continue to dominate food advertisements viewed by children.

Helmer, James. "Love on a Bun: How McDonald's Won the Burger Wars." Journal of
Popular Culture 26.2 (Fall92 1992): 85-97. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 11 Aug. 2009 . This article examines the television commercials broadcast of McDonald's Corp. in the 1980s to show how they connected to the cultural construct family. Specifically, it demonstrates how familial images were employed as a means of persuasion that ultimately portrayed McDonald's as a potential source of love and human happiness, as a place for being a family. What is suggested in the success of McDonald's advertising efforts is that the U.S. family recognizes the various human groups depicted in the commercials as reflections of itself. That is to say not only the most fundamental cultural institution, the family, is much changed but that McDonald's public messages have helped make its variations acceptable and legitimate, thus playing an influential role in its reconstitution. Moreover, the analysis suggests that familial images, when they are adapted to contemporary meanings, continue to carry considerable persuasive force in modern society. McDonald's approach is nothing less than a strategy of control that works in insidious ways, as through the whines of a child who persuades its parent to stop at McDonald's when other restaurants are closer or offer tastier and more healthful fare.

"Fast food gaining on cereal in TV ads for kids." Club Success: Successful Strategies for
Fitness Industry Professionals 8.8 (Aug. 2002): 3-3. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 11 Aug. 2009 . This short article describes the results of a study looking at the trends in television advertising aimed at children. An analysis of the commercials during Saturday morning cartoon shows currently indicate that there are nearly an equal amount of advertisements for fast food restaurants or beverages as those for the perpetual favorite of sugar breakfast cereals.

Probyn, Elspeth. "Chapter 2: FEEDING McWORLD, EATING IDEOLOGIES." 35-60.
Routledge, 2000. SocINDEX with Full Text. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 11 Aug. 2009 . This article deals with the influence of fast food chain McDonald's in global and local family cultures. Referencing the documentary film McLibel, Helen Steel and Dave Morris probes on issues like the effects of global and transnational capital on workers and animals, ethics versus profit, and concern about the effect of advertising on children. Furthermore, the author argues that the example of McDonald's creation of a global family can be used to problematise those practices that are seen to be transparently good and ethical. While McDonald's offers a cozy standardized world, ethical forms of eating tend to give a blueprint for conduct that place individuals within strict moral systems. In different ways these models fail to allow for recognition of the ambiguities and the contradictions of living in an interconnected world. The company's advertising campaigns demonstrate its rhetoric of caring, global citizenship through images of families and community, transcending regions and nations, class, ethnicity and age. As the human face of the cyber network, McDonald's plays on the interconnectedness of regions, peoples, time and space. On the other hand, the McDonaldisation of the workforce is obviously part of the climate of 'labor precariousness' that now characterizes the economy.

Hudson, Simon, David Hudson, and John Peloza. "Meet the parents: A parents'
perspective on product placement in children's films." Journal of Business Ethics 80.2 (June 2008): 289-304. PsycINFO. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 11 Aug. 2009 . The ethics of advertising to children has been identified as one of the most important topics worthy of academic research in the marketing field. A fast growing advertising technique is product placement, and its use in children's films is becoming more and more common. The limited evidence existing suggests that product placements are especially potent in their effects upon children. Yet regulations regarding placements targeted at children are virtually non-existent, with advertising guidelines suggesting that it remains the prime responsibility of the parents to provide guidance for children. This study measured the ethical evaluations of parents in the UK and Canada regarding product placements in children's films. After exposing parents to a four-type typology of product placements, results show that explicit placements of ethically charged products were perceived as the most unethical type of placements. Parents in the UK were more sensitive to the use of the technique and there was a significant difference in relativism between the two groups. Both sets of respondents would like to see more regulation on the use of placements, especially placements of alcohol, tobacco and fast foods.

Eagle, Lynne, and Ross Brennan. "Beyond advertising: In-home promotion of 'fast
food.'." Young Consumers 8.4 (2007): 278-288. PsycINFO. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 11 Aug. 2009 . The purpose of this paper is to discuss the range of potential influences on children's food choices, while suggesting that recent restrictions on advertising of some foods may not be as effective as expected. It aims to use home-delivered food promotional materials to illustrate the types of promotional activity that are not covered by recent regulatory actions.

Hoek, Janet, and Philips Gendall.. "Advertising and Obesity: A Behavioral Perspective."
Journal of Health Communication 11.4 (June 2006): 409-423. PsycINFO. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 11 Aug. 2009 .Concern over the levels of obesity observed in Western countries has grown as researchers forecast a rapid growth in the medical care that a progressively more obese population will require. As health workers deal with increased incidences of diabetes and other obesity-related disorders, policymakers have examined the factors contributing to this problem. In particular, advertising that promotes high fat and high sugar products to children has come under increasing scrutiny. Advertisers have rejected claims that advertising contributes to obesity by arguing that it cannot coerce people into purchasing a product, and does not affect primary demand. This reasoning overlooks the role advertising plays in reinforcing and normalizing behavior, however, and it assumes that only direct causal links merit regulatory attention. Ehrenberg's "weak" theory suggests advertising will support unhealthy eating behaviors, while the wide range of sales promotions employed will prompt trial and reward continued consumption. This article presents an alternative analysis of how marketing contributes to obesity and uses behavior modification theory to analyze the "fast-food" industry's promotions.

Harris, Jennifer L., John A. Bargh, and Kelly D. Brownell. "Priming effects of television
food advertising on eating behavior." Health Psychology 28.4 (July 2009): 404-413. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 11 Aug. 2009 . Health advocates have focused on the prevalence of advertising for calorie-dense low-nutrient foods as a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic. This research tests the hypothesis that exposure to food advertising during TV viewing may also contribute to obesity by triggering automatic snacking of available food.

Brown, Rachael. "Fast-food advertising pledge 'cynical'." 26 June 2009. ABC. 11 Aug.
2009 . This article is about only advertising lower calorie meals to children under the age of 14. There are loopholes like including a character in action to meet the criteria for kid’s meals.

Annotated Bibliography

Story, Mary, and Simone French. "Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children
and Adolescents in the US." 10 Feb. 2004. Pub Med Central. 10 Aug. 2009 . In recent years, the food and beverage industry in the US has viewed children and adolescents as a major market force. As a result, children and adolescents are now the target of intense and specialized food marketing and advertising efforts. Food marketers are interested in youth as consumers because of their spending power, their purchasing influence, and as future adult consumers. Multiple techniques and channels are used to reach youth, beginning when they are toddlers, to foster brand-building and influence food product purchase behavior.

Rouse, James . "Fast Food Advertising To Children." 6 Nov. 2008. 10 Aug. 2009
. Marketing gurus know all the tricks on how to get fast food advertising to children. The lure of toys, game pieces and pester power nets fast food advertisers results.

Horgen, Katherine Battle. "Big Food, Big Money, Big Children." Childhood lost: How
American culture is failing our kids. 123-135. Westport, CT US: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. PsycINFO. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 10 Aug. 2009 . Advertisers employ a variety of highly effective techniques to sell products to children, capitalizing on their developmental vulnerabilities. While grassroots efforts have had a local impact, the government must take more responsibility to combat the obesity epidemic among this nation's children. The author recommends the regulation of advertising directed at children, the banning of advertising in schools, the removal of vending machines and fast food franchises from schools, parents becoming advocates for their children, making exercise a priority in schools, and promoting medial literacy in schools.

Page, Randy M., and Aaron Brewster. "Emotional and rational product appeals in
Televised food advertisements for children: Analysis of commercials shown on US broadcast networks." Journal of Child Health Care 11 (2007): 323-40. 10 Aug. 2009 . The aggressive advertising and marketing of high caloric food products to children is implicated as a potential causative factor in the childhood obesity epidemic. This study analyzed 147 commercials appearing during children's programming on U.S. broadcast networks for a wide range of potential emotional and rational advertising appeals. The most prominent emotional appeals were fun/happiness and play followed by fantasy/imagination, social enhancement/peer acceptance, and coolness/hipness.

RABIN, RONI CARYN. "TV Ads Contribute to Childhood Obesity, Economists Say."
New York Times (21 Nov. 2008): 1. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 10 Aug. 2009 . Banning fast food advertisements from children's television programs would reduce the number of overweight children in the U.S. by 18 percent and decrease the number of overweight teens by 14 percent, economists have estimated in a new study. The researchers used several statistical models to link obesity rates to the amount of time spent viewing fast food advertising, finding that viewing more fast food commercials on television raises the risk of obesity in children.

Connor, Susan M. "Food-Related Advertising on Preschool Television: Building Brand
Recognition in Young Viewers ." PEDIATRICS 118.4 (2006): 1478-85. Health Source- Consumer Request. USI. 10 Aug. 2009 . This study used content analysis to explore how much and what type of advertising is present in television programming aimed at toddlers and preschool-aged children and what methods of persuasion are being used to sell products and to promote brands to the youngest viewers.

"How Food Ads Might Affect Children's Taste Preferences.." Child Health Alert 25 (Sep.
2007): 2-3. Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 10 Aug. 2009 . The article discusses research being done on the impact of fast food marketing on the taste preferences of children. It references a study by T. N. Robinson, published in the August 2007 issue of "Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine." Researchers conducted an unusual experiment involving 63 preschoolers, ages 3-5 years, from low-income families. This study shows, in a dramatic way, just how powerful the effects of advertising and branding can be on children.

"What Kids Are Watching: Food Ads On TV.." Child Health Alert 23 (Oct. 2005): 5-5.
Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 10 Aug. 2009 . This article examines the kinds of food advertised during TV programs that are heavily watched by children. Researchers first identified programs rated as most popular among 6-11 year olds. Among the 1424 ads that appeared, 30% were for food products. The researchers then reviewed the ads for their content. Not surprisingly, the authors report that candy, sweets, soft drinks, and convenience/fast foods were advertised most frequently, followed distantly by breads and cereals. There was little focus on fruits and vegetables, dairy foods, meats, poultry, and fish. Snack time eating was shown more often than breakfast, lunch, or dinner combined. They conclude that foods advertised to children would exceed limits for sugar and sodium and fail to provide adequate fiber, vitamin A, calcium, and iron.