FCC Commissioner Questions Marketing Aimed at Kids

Lisa from the Parents for Ethical Marketing has a thoughtful post on a recent speech delivered by FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.  Here is an excerpt from his speech:

In case you don’t know it already, many parents are feeling inundated by an array of media that are flooding their children’s minds with inappropriate material. Too many parents feel like they are losing control, and they’re frustrated by a seemingly relentless march of coarse material that is too violent, too sexual, too commercial or too unhealthy for their children. Messages or images their children are not ready to hear pop up in too many places for parents to easily control, from insensitively timed commercials during otherwise family-friendly programming to Internet ads and spam coming over the computer.

There is growing concern about unhealthful messages and images as well. . . . Many studies show the damaging effects of advertising on children’s food choices. Some of your companies have taken important steps, but there is far more to be done.

For parents, it’s like a game of whack-a-mole, with an increasing number of moles jumping up faster and faster. Too many parents suffer from a sense of exhaustion or futility. I suspect many of you share these concerns on a personal level, but many of you also work for powerful media companies that are helping this mole population to proliferate. . . .

I believe I speak for millions of parents when I say we’re overwhelmed, fed up and looking for help from the government and the industry alike. 

Read Lisa's entire post here.

Parents for Ethical Marketing plans to contact Commissioner Adelstein's office to find out how PEM members can participate in the FCC's rule-making process.

Please visit PEM and sign up for their action alerts and news bulletins. This is a great way for you to get involved and influence children's programming and advertising.

Comments

[Lisa @ Corporate Babysitter]

Thanks for the PEM plug! And I like your site redesign (this is the first time I haven't read you in my feed reader in a long time).

I sent a note off to Commissioner Adelstein and we'll see what happens. I'm sure it won't be *that* easy.