Warc, 5 June 2014
LONDON/PERTH: Food and drinks companies have been accused of
exploiting a regulatory loophole to promote unhealthy products to children via
online games which include advertising.
Researchers at the UK's University of Bath said that such
"advergames" were widely used to market items high in salt, sugar and
fat and since the advertising of such products was banned around children's TV
programmes, the companies involved were taking advantage of a legal ambiguity.
The study questioned the ethics of advergaming, arguing that
"children as old as 15 do not recognise advergames as adverts, and are
influenced by them without their conscious awareness".
Dr Haiming Hang, one of the report's authors and a senior
lecturer in marketing at the university, told the BBC: "After playing
advergames for 10 to 15 minutes, children's brand preference, or even eating
habits, can be changed."
Separate research undertaken in Australia found that
advergames were as effective as 30-second TV slots and could operate as viable
replacements. Dr Steve Bellman, of the Murdoch University's Audience Labs, had
a more relaxed view than his Bath counterpart.
"New technology in the form of online television is
opening up a range of new interactive possibilities for advertisers, so it's
good to explore how companies can move beyond the traditional models to connect
with customers," he told Phys.org. "And if this leads to increased
enjoyment for viewers, everyone wins."
Across Europe, children see far less food advertising on TV
than before, according to the World Federation of Advertisers. Its research
showed that children were now exposed to 31% fewer ads for EU pledge products –
a commitment by large food companies to change the products they advertise to
under-12s – on TV across all programming.
The Bath report said, however, that such pledges were
ineffective when it came to advergames and were meant to "appear to meet
public needs but in reality may be more accurately described as attempts to
deflect attention and quiet the industry's critics".
Data sourced from BBC, University of Bath, Murdoch
University, Phys.org, WFA; additional content by Warc staff
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