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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AD enough

55 replies

bonbonlavie · 17/04/2018 09:21

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.

OP posts:

Babyplaymat · 17/04/2018 10:01

I don't think should be able to advertise products that are bad for young, impressionable people to young, impressionable people.

Catspaws · 17/04/2018 10:01

Cancer rates through the roof, heart disease increased, adult obesity epidemic. Have we really come through unscathed?

Advertising is also more effective all the time. When you were a child companies like google and Facebook didn't exist. The level of data available was incomparably small. Targeted advertising just wasn't available in the way it is now. Advertisers know down to the household what your spending habits are, whether you have kids, when you are most likely to shop etc. You just didn't face that as a child.

SoyDora · 17/04/2018 10:02

I’ll ask again, why do you care? If you are far too intelligent, and far too good a parent that advertising influences you in any way, why do you care if it’s controlled?

brokeForYou · 17/04/2018 10:02

@SoyDora

I am absolutely influenced by advertising. When I see that KFC or wherever else has a deal or promotion I make a balanced decision as to if and when I will take advantage.

@Catspaws

Did you compare the deregulation of tobacco and junk food advertising.

Grow up.

Lovestonap · 17/04/2018 10:08

interestingly my children see far less targeted advertising than I did as a child, mainly because they don't watch live tv they watch their shows on Netflix.

I noticed this when my dd did watch milkshake one morning and wanted every single toy she saw advertised -Netflix went straight back on!

People who don't want junk food advertising to be reduced, why? Do you like watching them?

Bumpitybumper · 17/04/2018 10:09

brokeForYou

^Did you compare the deregulation of tobacco and junk food advertising.

Grow up.^

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Junk food is known to contribute to the development of all sorts of diseases and cancers, is abused regularly and not enjoyed in moderation, and has addictive qualities. I think you need to grow up if you seriously can't see the obvious similarities.

SoyDora · 17/04/2018 10:10

People who don't want junk food advertising to be reduced, why? Do you like watching them?

^exactly this. How do junk food ads enhance your life?

TheHulksPurplePants · 17/04/2018 10:10

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

No you probably don't. Advertising is by and large subliminal. Most of the time you'll be reacting to it, choosing a brand, craving a certain food, etc, without even knowing it.

TheHulksPurplePants · 17/04/2018 10:13

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

Surviving doesn't mean we never did things that were bad for our health just because we thought it tasted good/looked cool/everyone else was doing it, etc.

PhilODox · 17/04/2018 10:14

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

Really? When cancer rates are still increasing? Diabetes rates increasing? Obesity levels increasing?
I would say we don't yet know the effects of our teenage years/habits yet.

Also- the sheer availability of crap/junk food now is well beyond the scope of what was available when I was a teenager. There was no McDonald's near us when I was young, for example. No KFC either, or burger King etc. There were soft drinks, but not 'energy' drinks, or ubiquitous coffee shops (many of which serve drinks laden with sugar and cream).

Processed food was not as readily available either- and far more limited to findus crispy pancakes, frozen pizza, oven chips etc, not copious varieties of ready meals, 'sharing' bags of crisps and chocolates, ice cream tubs for a single meal etc.

Catspaws · 17/04/2018 10:16

@brokeForYou can you explain why they're so different then? Both are addictive. Both are bad for you. Both contain harmful additives. Both contribute to cancers and heart disease. Junk food isn't as harmful but it is still harmful. So why not regulate it to prevent aggressive marketing to children? And if all advertising can be overcome by good parenting and personal responsibility alone, why do we need to regulate tobacco? Why can't parents just say no?

Another general point - PPs have suggested that regulating companies (not regulating you, by the way) is somehow big brotherish but isn't it more sinister that huge corporations are buying data about you and using that information to target adverts at you and your kids to get your money regardless of any cost to your wellbeing?!

brokeForYou · 17/04/2018 10:16

"How do junk food ads enhance your life?"

It is data which intelligent people turn into information and then knowledge.

I like knowing deals or promos like a limited offer burger. It allows me to make an informed decision.

I guess I do get some kind of craving. Then I'm able to think about how hungry I am, what I've eaten that week or month, what I want my children to eat.

I object to being treated as an idiot.

Bumpitybumper

So, you're for ending phone / device and social media advertising too?

Catspaws · 17/04/2018 10:18

@brokeForYou even if you personally are able to fight back against the harm advertising is doing to your kids, why are you so hellbent on allowing that harm to occur in the first place?

SoyDora · 17/04/2018 10:18

It is data which intelligent people turn into information and then knowledge

You do know that for a variety of reasons, a lot of people aren’t able to make ‘intelligent’ decisions by your standards. Why shouldn’t we be helping those people?

brokeForYou · 17/04/2018 10:22

Sorry for the rapid fire posts, answering questions directed to me.

@Catspaws

For the same reason we have classes of drugs, some are illegal and some aren't.

You answered your own question, "Junk food isn't as harmful". I enjoy it infrequently. I've run a few marathons and cycled just under 500km last month. I couldn't do that as a heroin addict. Probably not as a smoker.

You speak about companies buying data about me. An area I do know a lot about.

That is a choice people make. If you are getting a service for 'free' then you are the payment. I have no issue with this. If anyone is surprised that Facebook (for example) harvest user data in order to fund it's enormous outgoings, I squint and do the 'cup-imaginary-breasts-thing' at their stupidity.

Original poster

bonbonlavie · 17/04/2018 10:23

Are you blaming obesity on advertising rather than people's inability to control themselves?

OP posts:

PhilODox · 17/04/2018 10:25

I squint and do the 'cup-imaginary-breasts-thing' at their stupidity.
WTAF does this mean?

SoyDora · 17/04/2018 10:26

I squint and do the 'cup-imaginary-breasts-thing' at their stupidity

WTF? I’ve never seen anyone do this, thankfully.

TheHulksPurplePants · 17/04/2018 10:27

I like knowing deals or promos like a limited offer burger. It allows me to make an informed decision.

But you aren't making an informed decision. You're being told a price and not much else. You have no idea what additives they put in that burger, how many calories it is, if there's added sugars or salts. You're choosing it because it's cheap and looks tasty. Exactly the same way people used to choose their cigarette brands.

AjasLipstick · 17/04/2018 10:31

It's not just advertising though. I remember one day in the CoOP I wanted one bar of Galaxy. A small one. I took it to the till and the woman said "Oh you can get a massive one for a pound...this one's 70p!"

And?

People will buy the massive one....generally. And that's WRONG! Wrong that it's cheaper to buy shite than good food.

Catspaws · 17/04/2018 10:40

@brokeForYou cupping imaginary breasts...? That's a new one.

Smoking is a lot less harmful than crack. It's not illegal. So why is it regulated? You've already indicated that parenting and personal responsibility are the only safeguards children need to protect them from advertising so please explain why the government is allowed to regulate the advertising of cigarettes?

Please then explain why, if that isn't acceptable, there should be a different rule for junk food? No one is suggested it needs regulating to the same degree. People just want a common sense approach that means children (the focus of OPs post) aren't targeted with advertisements about things that are really bad for them.

PlausibleSuit · 17/04/2018 10:42

But it's not simply about ending it or having it everywhere, is it? Those aren't the only options.

People should be given a choice, definitely. But they should also be given facts.

What I would imagine will ultimately be proposed is the equivalent of making sure no one puts ads for cigarettes in CBeebies magazine. Or maybe insisting on more prominent nutrition information. Which I think is reasonable.

Regulation around where and how messages are seen by children doesn't absolve parental responsibility. Having one doesn't take away the other.

Kirta · 17/04/2018 11:03

The AD enough campaign launched this morning has made me fancy a burger more than the adverts on the telly!

In all seriousness, I think there should be a better provision for children to learn about healthy eating than there currently is. I have witnessed quite perfunctory lessons on healthy eating (secondary PSHE) with no continued learning or follow up. It's all good and well policing what children see and what they can choose in the school canteen etc, but it would be great if they were making good choices (and recognise that it's ok to have a treat) based on what they know, and what they have learnt. Also wrt the sugar tax, and no full sugar versions in food outlets etc, I have wondered whether therefore that would lead people believe that the zero versions are therefore healthy? I think it's definitely good to be having conversations about it though.

Nixpix1 · 17/04/2018 11:36

Agree with you OP. I have 3DC. Aged 2 to 10. I don't buy much of junk food. we go as a family to the supermarket, but that is an odd occasion. If I don't want them to have it, I'll just say mayb next time because I have got you this that or the other today i. e mayb a box of lollies or a pack of juice.

Original poster

bonbonlavie · 17/04/2018 12:10

I agree that there should be education surrounding healthy eating and perhaps more emphasis on how to cook properly (Home Economics lessons were woeful when I was at school) much like I think there should be education regarding managing money properly and tax etc that children aren't taught but do prove useful in later life.

I just think trying to ban advertising is missing the point. I don't see how it will stop children wanting these things.

OP posts:

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