Letting Children be Children
28.
There is extensive guidance, in the Advertising Codes and the Internet Advertising Sales House members code of conduct, for example, and much good practice regarding advertising of age—restricted products online, but the industry acknowledges there is more to be done.We therefore welcome the commitment from the Advertising Association that it will do more to share best practice and explore what more can be done to limit children's exposure to inappropriate product advertising online and that it will continue to liaise with the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) in developing solutions (Advertising Association, 2011).
'New' marketing techniques
29.
By and large, then, we believe that existing regulatory provisions are in place and working well. However, where regulation has not kept up with developments in marketing communications, we believe that businesses must behave responsibly and not take advantage of those gaps to target children unfairly.
"Technology is moving faster than our ability to regulate it. So we as businesses can't really wait for regulation before we do the right thing."
Business contributor to the Review
"I think internet advertising is really the worst as it completely bypasses any parental supervision."
Parent, Call for Evidence response
30.
While parents say that they are fairly confident in helping their children understand advertising and marketing when they see it in the 'traditional' media (television, radio, billboards, print), some parents taking part in our qualitative research were uneasy about some of the newer marketing techniques used in new digital media, such as advertising by phone or text, the use of 'Like' or 'Favourite' buttons on websites, or internet advertising generally. Awareness of such approaches may be lower, and when they hear about them some parents seem instinctively to consider techniques such as peer—to—peer marketing as not only unsuitable, but also unethical, for use with children (Define, 2011).
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