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June 2012 - Media and PR

According to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Facebook advertising aimed at children is of increasing concern to parents.

Almost half of the parents who were polled say they worry about this type of marketing, which raises the bar on the issue as to whether the Government will take action against “stealth advertising” that targets children on social networks such as Facebook.  

A total of 44% of parents approve of legislation to prevent the commercialisation and sexualisation of children, while the Prime Minister has said that protecting youngsters from inappropriate consumer and sexual content is his personal priority.

Reg Bailey, of the Mothers Union, commented: “Parents are much more concerned about the whole virtual world than they are about broadcasting. I think they don’t expect that their children’s details are going to be picked up and the way advertisers are monetising that data to try to sell at children is really quite concerning.”

In a review last year, Mr Bailey called on businesses to help shield children from the "increasingly sexualised wallpaper surrounding them". He also said that it was becoming clear that “ultimately the Government will go for legislation if we don’t get this sorted out.”

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