Multiple agencies of the federal government are working on plans to prohibit advertising and marketing of junk food to teenagers. The proposal is so intrusive that even the Food Police admit it’s a major intervention. For now the guidelines would be voluntary but as the story notes, the industry is watching this move very, very closely. Check out the mindset at work here:
“What we’re talking about are very complicated and very subtle forms of marketing that aren’t always clear as such,” says Kathryn Montgomery, a professor of communications at American University and an advocate for limiting food ads to teens.
As an example, she cites an online ad sponsored by Doritos that mimics a horror movie, and which draws in users’ friends using Facebook or Twitter.
Montgomery says such ads work subliminally and use friends to influence other friends.
Please. Whether or not a kid eats veggies or Doritos is a parenting issue, for goodness sake.
