The Societal Issues Of Advertising - 1729 Words

Dear Darla, It has come to my attention that you are about to launch a new healthy snack targeted to children. You have already researched about the advertising business. However, you need clarifications about ethical and legal matters relating to advertising to children. I will therefore discuss the societal issues about advertising to children. I will then guide you through the relevant UK regulations regarding food advertising to children and how they might impact the advertising of your snack. Lastly, I will explain the process for hiring an agency and how you can avoid hiring an unethical agency. Children are more and more recognised and behaving as an independent consumer group (Bo Viktor Nylund, 2014). According to Curley (2005),†¦show more content†¦Parents argue that school should be a place to learn free from psychological manipulation and pressure of advertising (Moran, 2006). Some say that children are too heavily exposed to advertising of food high in saturated fat, salt and/or sugar and can lead to unhealthy eating habits (Matthews et al, 2005). The Guardian (2006) reported that 25% of children in secondary schools in England are obese. However, many companies argue that there is no correlation between children’ obesity increase and the influence of advertisements. Furthermore, some researchers argue that advertising is a societal phenomenon that shapes our lives . Hence, it is important that children experience it so they can fully engage in society (Queen, 2002). Additionally, advertising plays a part in the child s development process by equipping children with the necessary knowledge and skills to act as responsible consumers in later life (Wfanet.org, 2015).Some argue that advertising is not the only influence for children: friends, family and school play a major role and give them a broad view of the world. Lastly,In an economic perspective, forbidding advertising to children would be an obstacle for new companies to compete with the already well-known ones. In order to advertise your new snack, you will have to respect the UK codes of practice in the advertising industry designed to protect children. The codes