ARLINGTON, Va. — The Council of Better Business Bureaus approved 11 manufacturer pledges made as part of its Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. Details of commitments made by Cadbury Adams, Campbell’s Soup, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Hershey, Kellogg’s, Kraft, Mars, McDonald’s, PepsiCo and Unilever were announced at a joint forum hosted by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services yesterday. Under the terms of PepsiCo’s pledge, the company will only advertise Gatorade and Baked Cheetos, a reduced-fat snack, to children under 12, while Kraft will limit its advertising for this age group to cereals that meet its Sensible Solution criteria. Campbell’s has pledged to only advertising low-sodium soups and better-for-you foods consistent with U.S. Dietary Guideline recommendations to children under 12, and McDonald’s will only include meals that meet specified calorie, fat, saturated fat and sugar limitations in ads geared toward the age group. Meanwhile, Unilever has adopted an Eat Smart/Drink Smart Logo program, and as of June, only products that qualify for the logo are included in ads geared toward kids 6 to 12. The company’s children’s ads are currently limited to Skippy Peanut Butter and Popsicle products that meet the logo criteria. Voluntary members of the initiative, which was announced last November, agreed to devote 50% of advertising directed to kids under 12 to products representing healthy dietary choices and/or healthy lifestyle messages. At that time, member companies were also encouraged to develop individual pledges consistent with a core set of principles. “The goal of the initiative is to engage as many advertisers as possible to make a significant, collective impact in shifting the mix of products advertised to children,” said C. Lee Peeler, CBBB executive vice president, national advertising, and president and chief executive officer, National Advertising Review Council. “Today’s announcement represents a beginning, not an end.”
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