Children being left out of ad plans

Faced with rising consumer concerns across the world, companies are slowly but surely excluding small children from their marketing plans.

Hindustan Unilever has decided not to talk to children below six in its communication campaigns. Coca-Cola and Pepsi will not target consumers below 12 years. In fact, Coke does not feature children below 12 in any marketing communication. And Disney does not carry advertisements on its programme for very small children, Playhouse Disney.

Globally, a campaign has been mounted against companies that cause lifestyle disorders such as obesity amongst children through misleading advertisements. This has led to a correction in the marketing strategies of firms that thought children could affect the spending behaviour of their parents. Thus, McDonald's follows internal norms in not showing visuals of food in a way that could deceive children.

Back home, the Advertising Standard Council of India has come down on advertising campaigns of beverage manufacturers such as Cadbury's and Heinz, saying claims made in their commercials were exaggerated. It even took electrical products manufacturer Anchor to task after its commercial for weather proof switches showed a child accidentally touching a switchbox that had been sprayed with water. Advertising agencies say this has initiated introspection amongst companies about their target audience.

There is also a growing realisation amongst companies that very small children are not able to comprehend communication properly. "Evidence suggests that children below six find it difficult to distinguish between TV programming and advertising," Hindustan Unilever Chairman Harish Manwani recently told the company's shareholders. The company has decided that it will promote only those products to children between six and 11 that fulfill the nutritional benchmarks required to qualify for the "Choices" logo. Only those products in Unilever's global portfolio that are consistent with international dietary guidelines get to display the "Choices" logo on the package. Unilever hopes to complete the exercise by the end of 2008. For once, young consumers are not being spoilt with choices.