M&M's maker to stop marketing to
kids
Closely held Masterfoods says it will end marketing of
its core products to those under age 12 by year-end.
CnnMoney.com
February 5 2007
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Confectionery giant
Masterfoods, which makes Mars and Snickers candy bars as
well as M&M's chocolates, says it will stop marketing
its core products to children under the age of 12 by the
end of this year.
The new policy will cover all advertising, including
online and new media.
The European union authority DG Sanco, much like the
U.S.'s FDA, sent an inquiry to Masterfoods several
months ago about the company's marketing and advertising
of its products targeting children, according to
Masterfoods spokeswoman Marlene Machut.
In response, Masterfoods sent a letter to DG Sanco on
Friday related to its core products - candy, snack foods
- saying "we will not be advertising these products to
children under 12 years of age," Machut said.
This includes "all of our core confectionary products
and snack food products," which include Snickers, Mars,
M&M's, Twix, Skittles, Starburst, and Milky Way, Machut
said.
She also said, however, that this will not change how
some of the company's products are advertised - for
example there "won't be much of a change" to M&M's
advertising because it does not currently target the age
range at issue.
"M&M's have never been targeted below 12 years of age so
there is no change with that marketing. The base brand
has never been targeted to that age range," Machut
added.
An example of a product's marketing that will be
affected is mini M&M's, which have targeted younger
customers, including those under age 12.
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