In today’s society, the food and beverage industry is faced with an ongoing ethical dilemma because companies are far more concerned with making money than providing a good, safe, and healthy product for consumers. The biggest victims in this unethical marketing scheme are children. Marketing to children is in the spotlight. They are viewed as a key market force. They are constantly exposed to the growing number of advertising, marketing, and commercials through a wide range of resources. Companies are investing billions of dollars to be able to capture children’s attention. Instead of creating an environment where the adolescent health are one of the top priorities for the nation, these large industries are harming them by dangling unhealthy products in front of them. The consequence of this marketing is the growing child obesity problem that is plaguing our society. However, there are those that claim that marketing is not the sole cause of this problem; that environmental and societal changes are equally to blame. The ethical question is whether companies should be more responsible for their role in the health of society’s children, or should society be more responsible for regulating their intake of foods that have a potential negative effect.
Marketing is finding out what customers want, and then setting out to meet their needs, provided it can be done at a profit. Marketing includes market research, deciding on products and prices, advertising, promoting, distributing and selling. Marketing is more than simply promoting and selling a product. Successful marketing is satisfying the needs and desires of the customer. The marketing of the product is often the first time many of the consumers become aware of its existence so it is extremely important to have a successful marketing campaign that draws in the consumer and keeps them there. Included in the marketing scheme is the concept of social marketing. Social marketing differs from other areas of marketing only with respect to the objectives of the marketer and his or her organization. “Social marketing seeks to influence social behaviors not to benefit the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society” (Weinreich ) Both organizations’ need for profit, as well as consumers’ willingness to be to be told what to buy is not as important as the future wellbeing of the whole humanity. The corporations should explicitly incorporate social responsibility into its day-today marketing decisions to minimize negative effects on society and enhance positive effects. Of course, it is easier to say and harder to do. We have all heard of “let the buyer beware”. From this point of view, companies have little regard for the consequences related to the consumption of their products and place all the responsibility on the purchaser. The marketing of tobacco products is an ideal example of such practices. Cigarettes have for many decades been a profitable business for tobacco marketing companies. There is documented proof that cigarette smoking is harmful to our health, yet cigarette companies continue to market their products. While cigarette companies of the past have marketed their products using characters that appeal to children, such as Camel Joe, they have since discontinued this practice; perhaps the result of societal pressures. Similarly to the marketing of cigarettes, peddling unhealthy food to children can also have devastating effects and should be considered socially irresponsible.
Marketing to children is a major concern to regulators and consumer groups. A major reason for this concern is evidence based on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development that children are not able to fully comprehend commercial messages (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J) Marketing any product to children under age 12 is inherently deceptive… only 40% of 11 and 12 year olds have a full understanding of persuasive intent. Advertising junk to children is effective. A commercial ad that runs for only 30 seconds can influence a child as young as the age of two years old. Children reported that Mcdonald's and junk food taste better than any kind of food in plain wrapping (even if it is the same food). Whereas adults are able to understand marketing techniques and ploys when making decisions about products and food, young children do not have the cognitive capacity to fully understand what the purpose of advertising is. Very young children have a hard time differentiating between a commercial and a TV program. These young children have a difficult time understand the concept of selling. Persuasive intent causes these them to do things that they might not of done if they weren't pushed into it. Due to the extensive amount of advertising children grow accustomed to wanting these unhealthy foods. (Simon) Companies cite three purposes in marketing to children: brand loyalty, the “pestor factor” and “kid cuisine”. Children establish what brands they prefer and from whom they would rather buy food from. Their main preferences are sweets, soft drinks, snack foods, and fast foods. Marketing companies realize this and selling to young children is a big part of the business and brings in an huge amount of money. These companies encourage children to pester their parents for food that they see in advertisements and what fits their needs and “the best food” and aim to get it. Food companies aim to place the children in charge rather than their parents.
Ultimately these various methods of marketing to children lead to the childhood obesity epidemic we are facing today. “Obesity in kids has reached epidemic levels” Michael Obama said through a video made by the program “Let’s move”, a White House Obesity Initiative. Childhood obesity is not only a growing epidemic but it is also causing America’s children to live shorter lives. Due to increasing obesity rates this generation of children may be the first in two hundred years with a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Childhood Obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or wellbeing which can be based on the Body Mass Index (BMI). The Body Mass Index (BMI) is calculated from a child's weight and height, it is a reliable indicator of body fat for most children and teens. Children and adolescents with a BMI over the 85% but less than 95th percentile are considered overweight and those with a BMI greater than the 95th percentile are considered obese. According to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the year 2010 approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2 – 19 years are obese.(CDC) Obese kids also may be prone to low self-esteem that stems them from being teased, bullied, or rejected by peers. In addition to leading to poor self-esteem, overweight children can experience social discrimination, and are at risk for many diseases that were once thought to only affect overweight adults. And if those obese kids remain obese until they are adults, they will have continuous health problems and initiate a possible economic impact. Obesity leads to many problems including disadvantages in employment and loss of wages. It is projected that between 2020 and 2050 the estimated future cost of today’s obese society can balloon to $254 billion during that period, or $8.46 billion per year. These effects are felt by all levels of society from individuals to companies. Since 1970, the obesity rates in the United States have doubled to over 30%, with over 2/3 of Americans overweight. (Hammond and Levine) Approximately 17% (12.5 million) children and adolescents ages 2-9 years are obese (CDC). While marketing is definitely a contributing factor to these daunting facts and figures, there are some that say that it’s society, not business, that are causing our children to be overweight. In 2009, a South Carolina woman was charged with felony charges of neglect as her 14 year old reached an outrageous weight of 555lbs. As an excuse she states the following “Well, a lot of times it had to do with lifestyle. A lot of times I had to work fulltime second shift or fulltime, third shift. And I wasn't home a lot." (Cox) While this is an extreme case of parental neglect, this story magnifies one of the other reasons argued by marketers for the overweight state of our children. They state that what we eat and what we feed our children is our choice. It’s parents that feed the children, not corporate America and therefore, it is the parents who need to change their behavior. Families have a responsibility to choose nutritious foods and monitor what their children eat. It doesn’t help that nowadays, kids have become less active, and more interested in the advances of technology, video games and television, than getting exercise. When it comes to watching TV, and playing video games over exercising and being active the statistics are staggering. For every hour of TV a child watches, they eat on average 167 extra calories. Children as young as two years old are affected by the amount of TV they watch. The average American child spends seven and a half hours a day watching TV, on their cell phones and computers, and playing video games.(LaBarbera) TV and video games are teaching children it is okay to sit inside and let life pass them by. While no one is asking for TV and video games to be eliminated, parents should be limiting the amount of time spent on them, and encouraging physical activity. Parents simply might feel weary about making decisions, on almost an hour by hour basis that can help children lose weight. Parents might also find it difficult to deal with their children’s complaints that feel they are no longer able to eat all the foods they want, or that they are miserable when their video game playing is limited. However, it is these types of behaviors and lack of strict discipline that companies point to when defending their marketing policies. While is appears that each side is blaming the other, there are signs that both corporation and society as a whole are attempting to make changes so we can begin to combat this issue. “Get Moving, Stay Active!” This is part of a recent campaign being promoted by the McDonald’s corporation in order to get children outside and be active. They have also begun to offer alternatives to the usually side dishes, such as apples and yogurt. McDonalds, like many other corporations, see the benefit of social marketing, which include (a)enhanced company and brand image (b) easier to attract and retain employees (c) increased market share (d) lower operating costs and (e) easier to attract investors. A socially – responsible firm will care about customers, employees, suppliers, the local community, society, and the environment and recognizes that its activities have a wide impact on the society and that development in society, in turn supports the company to pursue its business successfully. (Weinreich) We all understand that companies are in business in order to make a profit. However, it is proven that consumers prefer to buy products from businesses that are socially conscience, which will ultimately increase their bottom line. As companies realize that making money and being socially responsible is not mutually exclusive, they will move away from the marketing of unhealthy foods and offer alternatives that will also be attractive to children. We also see that non-for profit organizations are also getting involved in social marketing campaigns to help battle the fight against obesity. The Center for Disease Control began to aggressively promote healthy eating and exercise on their website and provide tools to parents to encourage better eating. The CDC designed a cool cartoon character, Power Panther, to keep pace with the other flashy marketing techniques used by commercial food marketers.(Petersen) The CDC realizes that it is ultimately in society’s best interest to get involved because we will all have to deal with the consequences these children will face later; more diseases, low self-esteem and decreased earning ability. Parents also need to know that promoting healthy diets and regular physical activity are essential factors in combating the epidemic of childhood obesity. Parents can influence children's behavior by providing healthy option at home and supporting and encouraging physical activity. Since parent’s behaviors are often emulated by the child, it is important for them to practice what they preach. Be a role mode. If parents eat the right foods and get involved in physical activity, so will their children.
The debate on what contributes ti childhood obesity is very complex. Some say it is the food marketing to children that causes them to become obese and there is strong evidence to say that television advertising influences children’s preferences. Alternatively, some argue that food promotion by the marketers has little influence compared to the other societal factors, such as decline in physical activity in the video game era and less parental guidance. The real answer probably lies somewhere in between. Corporations and parents need to take personal responsible and recognize their parts in contributing to this serious problem. Instead of pointing fingers, our society as a whole should work together.