It's a Game, It's Junk Food, It's Advergaming! [1]
Submitted by Judith Siers-Poisson [2] on
The Kaiser Family Foundation [3] has released a study [4] titled "It's Child's Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children," which found that more than eight out of ten (85%) of the top food brands that target children through TV advertising also use branded websites to market to children online. "Overwhelmingly, almost exclusively, the Web sites you are looking at are for foods that are of poor nutritional quality," said Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest [5]. A Kraft [6] Foods executive said experts disagree on the impact of advertising food to kids. "There are many different factors contributing to childhood obesity and overweight," said Nancy Daigler, a Kraft vice president. Examples of advergaming are Cheetos [7] Cowtapult, Ritz Bits Soccer Shoot Out [8], and several games choices featuring Pop-Tarts [9].