Fizziness that won't go flat

The soft-drink approach

Soft-drinks producers have drafted guidelines to extend existing commitments on restricting advertising to children to all kinds of web-based and electronic communications. Companies that sign the pledge are expected to ensure that online marketing appears only on websites where at least 50% of the visitors are above the age of 12. Companies should also ensure that their own websites are not targeting children under the age of 12.
The association will ask an independent auditor (yet to be chosen) to assess their progress in meeting their targets. Salvatore Gabola, chairman of marketing and communications at Unesda, says he hopes to reach 80% compliance by the end of the year and ultimately “as close as possible to 100%”. A growing industry devoted to assessing website traffic, including age breakdown, would help Unesda to know if it was meeting its target, he said. One of the most straightforward changes should be the briefs that the soft-drinks companies give to their advertising firms: “I would find it a real miss if we fail to modify the briefs for agencies,” says Gabola.

Who regulates?

In 2005 Markos Kyprianou, the then European commissioner for health, warned the food and drink industry that it had a year to stop advertising directly to children or face legislation. Since then self-regulation has become increasingly common in Europe.

An EU-funded study by the International Association for the Study of Obesity on “policies on marketing food and beverages to children” (Polmark) has found that eight out of 12 European governments with policies on food and drink advertising have worked with private companies. But this has not prevented the adoption of legislation. The UK has banned advertising of sugary and salty foods designed to appeal to children, although a similar proposal in France failed by one vote in 2009.

The Polmark researchers found wide variations in the nature of the restrictions adopted. They argue that governments need a clearer view of their aims, and firmer ways of holding companies to account.