15 June 2006

Food Advertising Unit

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The FAU challenges the FSA Board’s call to ban food and drink advertising before 9pm

Responding to the FSA Board’s decision today to back consumer groups’ calls to ban food and soft drink advertising before the 9pm watershed, Jeremy Preston, Director of the Food Advertising Unit (FAU) said:

“This is totally disproportionate. Ofcom’s proposals will already halve the amount of ads seen by younger children and amount to a overly strong intervention to restrict TV advertising, especially given that Ofcom and the FSA’s own research shows that advertising only has a modest (2%) direct effect on children’s food preferences.

He added,

“The industry agrees with the Health Minister that the chief concern must be primary school children. Yet the FSA appears more interested in trying to restrict the information available to informed adults. This seems quite ridiculous in the context of addressing childhood obesity.”

The FSA has failed to take into account the positive impact that the proposed rule changes on content will have in reducing the appeal of food ads targeted directly to children. If agreed, these would prevent all licensed characters, celebrities and promotional offers in ads targeted directly at children under 10 years.

In the last few years, industry has already made great progress in product and menu reformulation. There has also been a 30% reduction in advertising to children. Industry remains committed to help the Government meet its target to halt the year on year rise in childhood obesity by 2010.

Christy Swords, ITV’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, said

“At 8 o’clock last night 19 out of every 20 ITV1 viewers were adults. A pre-watershed ban on food advertising would effectively be a ban on advertising to adults, rather than to children, which is what Ofcom has been asked to address.

Such a ban would also threaten investment in programming by advertising-funded channels. Broadcasters and the industry accept that there is a case for targeted and effective restrictions on food advertising to children, but a blanket pre-watershed ban would be wholly disproportionate.”

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Notes to editors

The Food Advertising Unit (FAU), which operates under the auspices of the UK Advertising Association, is a centre for information, communication and research in the area of food advertising, particularly television advertising, to children. FAU membership represents multi-national food companies, advertising agencies and the media.

For further information

FAU: Please contact Suzanne Edmond or Sue Eustace on 020 7340 1100.

ITV: Please contact Jim Godfrey on 020 7843 8434.

FAU Media Brief - a short overview of the FAU’s key messages (March 2006)

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