‘Responsible ads’ forum is food for thought

By Véronique Vallières

Date: 10/11/04

THE food industry cannot be trusted to regulate its own advertising, consumer groups argued at a European Voice conference last week.

The consumer champions and food industry representatives did agree that children needed more protection from potentially harmful advertising. But while the former called for government laws to regulate advertising, the latter promoted self-regulation.

During the conference, Responsible Advertising to Children, the food officer of the French Consumers Association Que Choisir, Hélène Moraut Pestanes, said that she believed legislation was effective, citing the example of the province of Quebec, which has the lowest obesity rate in Canada after the province banned advertising to children in the 1980s.

But Kellogg's Europe President Tim P. Mobsby said that the law was only there to provide a context within which self-regulation should be applied. "We believe in education rather than legislation," he said.

The role that the EU might play in responsible advertising was unclear, as "cultural differences and different traditions" made it difficult to tackle the issue at a pan- European level.

Marianne Åbyhammar, ombudsman at the Swedish consumer agency Konsumentverket, argued that EU legislation would not prove effective because it would mean having to legislate to the lowest common denominator.

Criticism that the industry was targeting children as early an age as possible in order to develop their consumer habits was countered. "Advertising is a tiny part of stimuli children receive in their daily life," said Malcolm Earnshaw, of the European Advertising Standards Alliance. "It can't be driving the obesity crisis."

During the conference 'Responsible Advertising to Children' different views emerged on whether more legislation banning food advertising directed at children helps to fight health problems such as obesity.