For families: Obesity lurks online
Concerns about childhood obesity prompted the Kaiser Family Foundation to study how online food advertising targets children.
The recent Kaiser report found that more than 8 out of 10 of the top food brands that advertise to children on TV also market to children online.
Strategies include online games featuring the company brand or logo as characters, and “viral” marketing, where kids are encouraged to pass on the Web-site information to friends.
Other tactics such as sweepstakes, contests, promotions and on-demand access to television ads also offer a hook. Online games include Chips Ahoy Soccer Shootout, Chuck E. Cheese’s Tic Tac Toe, the M&M’s Trivia Game and the Pop-Tarts Slalom.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Institute of Medicine, as well as other government agencies, plan to study the survey.
Obesity Lurks Online
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