Media Contact: Jenn Ellek, (703) 790-5750
NCA Announces Initiatives on Responsible Marketing to Children
Confectionery Guidelines on Responsible Marketing Released by NCA
After reviewing several reports from respected institutions, including the Institute of Medicine, the Board at the National Confectioners Association (NCA) announced this week new guidelines on responsible confectionery marketing for its members. The reports offer the food and beverage industry, including candy, an opportunity to take a leadership role by bringing balance to marketing materials and better informing and educating parents and kids.
NCA has also undertaken several leadership initiatives around this issue:
- Joining the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) which works in voluntary cooperation with children's advertisers to ensure that advertising messages directed to young children are "truthful, accurate and sensitive." Several NCA member companies also belong to CARU which has its own marketing guidelines.
- Providing internet content NCA members can link to including such materials as Treat Smarts: A Guide to Nutrition and Activity which provides easy to use guidance for parents on nutritional information for popular kinds of candy, activities to keep the family healthy and interactive ways to make meal time fun. View the Treat Smarts brochure.
- Joining the Ad Council's Coalition for Healthy Children to promote healthy lifestyles to kids and parents. The Coalition includes marketers, media, not-for-profits and government agencies. http://healthychildren.adcouncil.org
In addition some companies, including some NCA members, are involved in a new self-regulation program, the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, designed to shift the mix of advertising messaging to children to "encourage healthier dietary choices and healthy lifestyles."
The NCA Statement of Principles was developed with the able assistance of Tish Pahl from NCA's law firm, Olson, Frank & Weeda, as well as an ad hoc NCA committee including NCA member company experts on legal, marketing and government affairs.
The baseline confectionery guidelines on responsible marketing is available now online.
For more information about the guidelines, contact Susan Smith at (703) 790-5750# # #