NEW YORK - A new, voluntary children‘s food and beverage advertising initiative was announced yesterday by the National Advertising Review Council here and the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Arlington, Va. Manufacturer members of the program have committed to devoting 50% of advertising directed to children under 12 to products representing healthy dietary choices and/or healthy lifestyle messages. Cadbury Schweppes USA, Campbell Soup Co., The Coca-Cola Co., General Mills, The Hershey Co., Kellogg Co., Kraft Foods, McDonald‘s, PepsiCo and Unilever have committed to the program. “The initiative allows companies to develop an individual pledge or commitment to certain advertising practices, consistent with a core set of principles,” said Jodie Bernstein, former director of the Federal Trade Commission‘s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “These pledges will be made public and monitored and enforced by an independent third party, the CBBB, with referral to the FTC in the event of noncompliance.” The program will be up and running within the next six to twelve months. Julie Gallagher
