New developments in advertising regulations

Posted by Marie Ingram

The post titled, "Toy commercials Through the Years", addressed the issue of gendered toys and commercials continuing to encourage gender stereotypes, but what about the toy industries that make the toys and buy commercial time during children's T.V shows?

CommercialFreeChildhood.org reports that companies spend about $17 billion annually marketing to children, a staggering increase from the $100 million spent in 1983.They also report that children ages 2-11 see more than 25,000 advertisements a year on TV alone, a figure that does not include product placement. They are also targeted with advertising on the Internet, cell phones, mp3 players, video games, school buses, and in school.

In June 2009, the Toy Industry Association held the 35th Annual General Meeting of the International Council of Toy Industries in Munich, Germany. Representatives of 21 national toy trade associations gathered to discuss advertising on the Internet. TIA members recognized that international and national NGOs are going to increasingly focus on the industry’s advertising on the Internet. It is unregulated at this point in time. Mr. Irwin, a director on the TIA board said, “In a world of emerging technologies, we are looking to create more comprehensive guidelines for communicating via the Internet. We want to make sure that any guidelines that are established are robust and fair. And we want to ensure that we act responsibly as an industry and that the government regulators recognize our efforts and do not feel a need to regulate the industry as a whole.” (ToyAssociation.org, "TIA Board Recieves Plan Addressing the Issue of Communication and Marketing to Children").

They want to look like they are helping regulate their industry because they do not want to have their advertising cut back, presumably because their ad campaigns on the Internet are working well.

The problem with advertising to children is that until the age of 8, they cannot distinguish an advertisement from the show they are watching and do not understand the persuasiveness in commercials (commercialfreechildhood.org).

Commercials have such an impact on children, that this Christmas season parents are begging toy companies to cut back on advertising because they cannot afford to buy their children everything they are asking for this year (CBSnews.com, “Parents to Toy makers: Cut the Ads”).

The toy industry does not want their ads limited like they have been on the television. There have been attempts in the past to regulate commercials during children's T.V shows. In 1988 President Reagan vetoed a bill that would limit advertising during children’s programs. The President said the bill violates the freedom of expression stated in the Constitution. The Senate passed the bill on a voice vote after the House approved it on a 328-78 vote.The FCC had said the marketplace will regulate itself (Chicago Tribune, “Regan Vetoes Bill Regulating Kids’ T.V”).

In 1990 however, the Children’s Televisions Act was signed into law, which states that advertisements during children’s programing had to be limited to 12 minutes an hour and improve the quality of the programming. This year the FCC has been urged to reevaluate the law because of new technologies that have emerged since (Examiner.com, “Children’s Television Act of 1990 Undergoes Review by the FCC”).

The TIA want to get a head start creating guidelines for themselves before the government steps in to do it for them.