AD enough

[bonbonlavie]

I keep seeing folk covering their eyes and demanding the government stop companies advertising junk food and it's starting to infuriate me. When did it stop being the parents' responsibility to say no to children? I'm aware of the might of advertising but surely to god parents have the power to say no?! I know I'll get flamed but I feel like we're in a nanny state.

Don’t! Same with sugar tax, the 100 calories max snacks, most people can make informed decisions. Sadly there seems to be a new breed of ‘cant think for selves’ type people.

So the sensible get penalised because some cannot think for themselves.

Absolutely.

Jamie Oliver and his shit, failing pizza company need to fuck off.

There have been massive problems caused by people deciding that fat was bad but sugar was OK. I wonder how long before the artificial sweeteners in food are found out to be much worse for you than sugar.

My children adore Happy Meals (they had 4 last year, 3/4 of which were at airports before flying long haul). I find it easy to say no and parent them.

I find it ironic that it tends to be the Liberals who actually want to control everything we do and eat and say and think.

I think parental responsibility is all well and good, and of course parents can say no.

But given that we know the intense power advertising has (and the harm it can cause) I don't think there is anything wrong with seeking to prevent direct and aggressive advertising to children. I don't think companies should have a right to a captive audience of children to target adverts at.

cats

But where does it stop? Children and adults have been the subject of advertising for years.

I distinctly remember pop tarts being advertised during TVAM (hello Anne Diamond!) and asking my mum for them. No way was her answer and that was it.

Are we going to go down the line of treating sweets etc the same as tobacco and covering it in shops?

We're being hindered taking personal responsibility and putting the blame on companies.

Advertising is far, far more intrusive than in the past though- mobile displays, ads on every type of media, social media taste-setters etc. This stuff is utterly pervasive, and targeted at children. Companies are now admitting they intentionally get people addicted to their apps.

So yes- it's a parent's responsibility to guide their children to healthy choices, but even adult minds are being warped by what companies want to sell to them.

So companies should be allowed to advertise utter shite whenever they want?

AjasLipstick

Seems to be the consensus here.

There's a big difference between these things being available for parents to give their kids as and when they decide is appropriate, and just allowing advertising to be a free for all.

Adults can make decisions for themselves - children are much less able to do so. If they are saturated with advertising before their own decision-making capabilities are fully formed, we aren't letting them develop the faculties they need.

Adverts 100 years ago were written statements in a newspaper or on a billboard, perhaps with a sketch if it was fancy. Adverts today have entire industries behind them where your data is bought by companies and used to target specific adverts at you and your children with the sole purpose of getting your money regardless of your welfare.

You ask where it stops and wonder if sweets are going to be treated like cigarettes. But the reverse could be asked of you. If it's just a matter of parenting and personal responsibility why don't we let cigarettes and alcohol be advertised in any way companies like, to whomever they like? The reason is we protect children from harm. Junk food and sugar aren't as harmful as tobacco and alcohol but they are harmful. Why shouldn't we stand up against the companies relentlessly manipulating children into wanting them?

But gentle parenting darling! We could never so no to poor little tarquin. It's so negative

And why can't parents say no?

The buck stops with the parents

The thing is, advertising works. If it didn’t, companies wouldn’t spend their money on it.
Advertising is far more pervasive than it was when we were children. We, and our children, are confronted with it at every turn. Yes of course we need to be saying no to our children (and exercising self control ourselves) but it’s not a simple as that.

On a serious note though since when do children actually view advertising? Y do only advertising my children see are on billboards which really isn't that compelling. I just don't see the issue.

Catspaws I agree.

Advertising had been proven time and time again to be effective and whilst we all like to think we aren't influenced by it, the fact that companies pour so much money into advertising speaks for itself. Children are obviously even more impressionable than adults, so I just fail to see how banning the advertising of junk food to kids is a bad thing. We have an obesity crisis and if we don't tackle children's eating habits early we already are setting ourselves up for all kinds of issues

Everyone saying they are capable of saying 'no' and regulating their children's diets, have you not considered that a lot of children have parents that aren't as knowledgeable about nutrition or simply lack the ability/desire to effectively control their child's food intake? These children are the ones that are most vulnerable to this kind of advertising and need this protection. Public policy should be set first and foremost to help these children and I can see how cracking down on this advertising would have a positive impact on these children.

Of course parents can say no. I frequently do. But what happens as soon as your children are given a little leeway? When they’re walking to school themselves, and have pocket money? When they’re teens and have their own money?

Even smart and educated people have no clue what they’re eating half the time so I don’t think it’s a bad idea for the gov to regulate things more. The tax isn’t to make people pay more, it’s to make industry improve their food standards. The food we’ve been getting has been slowly but surely disimprovibg over the last 20yrs with cheaper manufacturing and faster growing methods etc happening behind closed doors. Everyday people have no clue about all the ingredient substitutions and extra sugar/salt being poured into our food year after year to reduce food cost. So it’s pretty shortsighted if anyone to think that all this is about is controlling consumers. Quite the opposite, it’s anout protecting them!

@bonbonlavie of course parents can say no when it's young children with no resources of their own. What about when it's your 14 year old?

Why do you think kids should be fair game in this way? Isn't there some kind of moral duty to say 'I don't want kids to be subject to the manipulation and pressure of advertisers just so that big companies can make more money at their expense'?

Banning cigarette adverts worked. Stopping alcohol companies from targeting children worked. Stopping formula adverts worked. Why shouldn't they control advertisements for junk food?

After amassing millions of debts which will apparently go unpaid and costing hundreds of staff their jobs, I'm surprised JO has the audacity to show his face in public, let alone to front yet another of his Uber-patronising 'campaigns'

If you believe that you and your children aren’t influenced by advertising then great, the ban on advertising will not affect you at all. But it may help others, who are perhaps less educated about nutrition. Why would that piss you off so much? It won’t affect you.

@DairyisClosed television, before videos on YouTube, literally every single time they use the internet, magazines, in the cinema.

You might be able to protect very young children from advertising but you have no hope when they start to use any media themselves.

@TheHulksPurplePants

Because some of us have the intelligence to parent without Big Brother telling us what is appropriate.

Because some of us have the intelligence to parent without Big Brother telling us what is appropriate

Any maybe some don’t. So why shouldn’t we take a relatively simple step to help them? If you’re not influenced by advertising, the removal of it won’t affect you in any shape or form, will it? So why are you bothered?

@brokeForYou

Good for you. Have this big shiny badge and climb up on this pedestal so everyone can see how great you are.

Not all kids have parents who know what is best for them or who will stand up to them when they demand sugar and junk. Are those kids fair game because they aren't lucky enough to have someone as fabulous as you as a parent?

Since you're the Best Parent Ever TM let's just deregulate cigarettes so that when your kid starts spending his pocket money on them because advertisers have told him how cool he's going to look you can just gently tell him 'no' and make the whole problem go away.

So we've all come through the teenage years and adolescence being given some pocket money and we've all survived. What makes this generation of children any different? Are they less capable of being able to think for themselves?

So we've all come through the teenage years and adolescence being given some pocket money and we've all survived

What, so no adults in existence today are obese?