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What are the U.S. confectionery industry agreements or commitments regarding not marketing to children and their key principles? What are the U.S. confectionery industry agreements or commitments regarding not marketing to children and their key principles? Which companies have ratified / committed to what? What was the context for these companies agreeing to not market to children? What is the likelihood that laws or regulations will be passed limiting the marketing of confectionery to children?
Hello! Thanks for your question about restrictions on the U.S. confectionery industry marketing to children. The short version is that while most confectionery companies that operate in the U.S. have agreed to some form of commitment not to market to children under 12, there appears to be little chance of laws or regulations limiting such marketing in the immediate future. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
Methodology
To address this question, I consulted industry reports, government regulatory agency sites, scholarly research, and news items on the topics of the U.S. confectionery industry and advertisements aimed at children. I looked for current items, and also included some sources that give historical context to the current state of regulations around marketing to children. Given the direct interests of the confectionery industry in protecting their brands and revenue, I sought a balance of sources to present both industry and outside perspectives. The findings below are structured to reflect the three questions posed: what commitments currently exist, what was the context for those agreements, and what is the likelihood of future regulations being passed.
Existing Commitments
Currently, most of the confectionery industry is self-governing on the topic of marketing to children, under either the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) or the Children's Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI). The CFBAI includes larger companies that produce more than just sweets, the candy companies that are party to it are: "American Licorice Company; Ferrero USA; The Hershey Company; Mars, Incorporated; Mondelez International; and Nestlé." The CCAI is just for candy companies, so it includes mid-size or smaller companies: "Ferrara Candy Co., Ghirardelli Chocolate Co., Jelly Belly Candy Co., Just Born Quality Confections, The Promotion in Motion Co., and the R.M. Palmer Co." These agreements are both overseen by the Council of Better Business Bureaus—with the CCAI being overseen in partnership with the National Confectioners Association—and both agreements stipulate that companies not directly advertise to children under 12. While the CFBAI and CCAI account for most of the confectionery industry players in the U.S., and most of the ones that target products at children, Bazooka Candy Brands and Tootsie Roll Industries are not members of either agreement. Bazooka operates under a different Better Business Bureau self-regulation mechanism, the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU), which targets advertisement messages rather than placement in children's programming. Tootsie Roll cites company policy of not marketing to children under 12.
It should be noted that these agreements mostly apply to television, where there are more established standards around advertising in general such a limits on the amount of time devoted to ads during children's programming and requirements for delineation between entertainment and advertising content. On the Internet, standards tend to be looser and some distinctions between content types less well-defined.
Context and Trends
The food and beverage industry as a whole has strenuously resisted attempts by federal regulators to impose formal limits on marketing to children, including working to overturn or prevent FTC regulations. Self-regulation is one aspect of this stance, making the argument that if the industry can effectively self-regulate, there is no need for external oversight or limitation.
At the same time, the candy industry recognizes that consumers are aware of health concerns surrounding obesity, particularly childhood obesity. As a whole, the industry understands the need to be seen as advocates of children's health and well-being, which is another reason to promote initiatives aimed at limiting marketing directed at children.
Likelihood of Future Regulations
The likelihood is low of laws or regulations aimed at limiting marketing of confectionery to children in the near future. Such regulations have already been overturned in the past, and the FTC website lists no action newer than 2012 on the subject. In addition, recent political victories by proponents of the food industry include preventing proposed voluntary guidelines on marketing aimed at children under the Obama Administration. Even more recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an Omnibus bill that includes a provision prohibiting government agencies from setting regulations on marketing to children. In fact, given the broader shift in viewing from conventional TV to the Internet, there are now arguably fewer practical limits in place on advertising to children, given that what regulations do exist were designed to address television marketing. While complaints have been filed with the FTC over Internet marketing practices, it is unclear whether that agency will have the ability to issue any limits on marketers.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, the U.S. confectionery industry is largely self-regulating with regard to marketing towards children, with the general guideline being no direct marketing to children under 12. This came about as an answer to the threat of government regulation, and to consumer concerns about the effects of sweets on the health of children. Given the current political standing of marketing regulations, it is not highly likely that laws or regulations limiting the marketing of confectionery to children will be passed in the near future.
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