CASE 8.5
Kraft, Barney Rubble, and Shrek
Kraft Foods has decided to ban certain food ads from children’s, websites for kraft foods. Kraft has created a group of outside independent advisers who analyzed the company website and found games for children involving Barney Rubble and Shrek that led the kids to chases for kraft products such as ChipsAnoy, Lunchables, and Kool-Aid. Kraft agreed to pull the ads from the web because Professor Ellen Wartella, dean the college of Communication at University of Texas at Austin, called the web ads “indefensible”. The ads were placed in children’s TV and radio programs. Kraft does market “healthier” product to children between the ages of six and twelve. Kraft also uses cartoon characters on its products such as Sponge Bob on its crackers and Dora the Explorer on Teddy Grahams cookies.
About eighteen months after kraft heeded the advice of his advisory board and made change, eleven united state companies, including kraft, announced that the they would put stricter controls on their advertisement product for children. The companies participating in the voluntary initiative that are:
• Kraft
• McDonald’s
• Pepsi,Co
• Coca-Cola
• General Mills
• Campbell’s
• Cadbury Adam’s
• Kellogg’s
• Hershey’s
• Mars, Inc
• Unilever
The companies take the control different form, for example pepsico and coke will eliminate ads at elementary schools. Pepsico is also eliminating ads at middle schools. The chairman of the federal trade commission praised the group for their voluntary action. However, members of conggress indicated that the media outlets, including the cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, also needed to step forward with volutary steps.