Pressure mounts for pre-9pm ad ban
Marketing Daily
November 13, 2007
Lobby groups have stepped up
calls for a pre-9pm watershed for "junk" food and
alcohol advertising. It follows concerns that the
Government's failure to mention the issues in the
Queen's Speech last week indicated a blanket ban could
be introduced by December (MW last week).
Which?, the consumer lobby group, has renewed its calls
for a 9pm ban on "junk" food after a new report which
claims that a majority of TV programmes watched by kids
are not covered by existing regulations.
The restrictions on food advertising, introduced in
April, banned adverts for foods high in fat, salt or
sugar (HFSS) from being shown around programmes for
children. This has banned ads from shows such as The
Simpsons, which is shown on Channel 4 at 6pm, but not
during The X Factor, ITV's peak time Saturday night
show.
New research from Which? looked at viewing figures
across ITV1, Channel 4 and five for two weeks in
September to see which shows children under 10 years old
are watching in the largest numbers.
The top 20 shows for children aged under 10 years old
included Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and
Coronation Street and ads for a variety of snack brands,
including Mars Planets and Kinder Bueno, were shown
during these programmes.
It adds that research into the programmes most watched
by children under 16 years old shows that plans to
extend restrictions in January will make a limited
difference.
Meanwhile, a coalition of medical experts, including
Alcohol Concern, will call for a ban on alcohol
advertising and a 10% rise in tax this week.
The Alcohol Health Alliance will also call for increased
regulation for the industry, compulsory warnings about
the effects of drinking and improved prevention and
treatment programmes.
The Advertising Association chief executive Pets
Buscombe said last week that the omission of any mention
of public health issues in Gordon Brown's first Queen's
Speech should "raised suspicions".