Fast food advertising proves self-regulation is a charade
A major fast food outlet is making a mockery of self-regulation, flouting a recent ruling by the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) and continuing to broadcast ads for an unsuitable children’s meal, according to a coalition of peak health bodies.
Hungry Jack’s is broadcasting a new ad for its Kids Club Meal of three chicken nuggets and water – the same meal that was deemed by the Advertising Standards Board to contravene nutritional standards* that the company helped to develop.
Instead of developing an appropriate meal for children, the fast food giant has simply created a new ad with four Simpsons collectable toys, leaving the meal as is.
Jane Martin, senior policy adviser for the Obesity Policy Coalition called on the Australian Government to end the charade of advertising self-regulation and impose an effective
regulatory system with appropriate sanctions.
“Fast food advertisers are laughing in the face of the self-regulatory regime and the ASB. They are not taking concerns about childhood obesity seriously. They have developed these so called self-regulatory initiatives to appear socially responsible, but they are not even complying with their own rules.
“This illustrates how ineffective self-regulation is; the slap on the wrist by the ASB has done nothing to deter this sort of advertising from rolling out. It’s time for the Government to acknowledge that fast food advertisers cannot be trusted to do the right thing when it comes to our children’s health. In this case commercial interests and children’s interests are not compatible,” said Martin.
Since the ASB ruled the chicken nugget meal inappropriate to advertise to children in November 2009, the new ad promoting the same meal deal with a free Simpsons toy has run more than 300 times on major commercial TV stations across Australia.
