Here’s an easy way to buff your reputation if you sell junk to kids

Sara Lee promises to lay off your kids.

Sort of.

The Better Business Bureau recently announced that Sara Lee has joined the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI).

Under the initiative, companies such as Coca-Cola, Mars, Hershey, and Cadbury have agreed that at least half their advertising aimed at children under the age of 12 will be devoted to promoting healthy dietary choices.

So it’s as if the companies are saying, “We’re still going to stalk your children with advertisements for our useless junk. But we’ll sprinkle in some ‘good nutrition’ and ‘healthy choice’ business along the way. Then after their 12th birthday, we’ll drop all that nonsense and let Madison Avenue go after them. By the time they get to high school their brains will be deep fried with desire for Coke, chocolate, and cheesecake.”

In return for this solemn pledge, the BBB helps these companies promote a reputation as the good guys who really care about kids.

But you don’t have to let them decide what they advertise to your kids. I know such advertising is powerful, but you have something even more powerful…the remote. So you can step in and turn off the TV, monitor Internet activity, and then make genuinely healthy choices at home.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Sources:
“Sara Lee joins scheme against junk food advertising to children” Caroline Scott-Thomas, FoodNavigator-USA, 9/24/10, foodnavigator-usa.com