Advertising Law News And Analysis - August 2012

Edited by Jeffrey D. Knowles and Gary D. Hailey Roger Colaizzi and Gregory J. Sater

News

CARU Asks Kraft, "Where's the Fruit" in Lunchables Advertising

In an August 14 press release, the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) announced that it had recommended that Kraft Foods, Inc. modify television advertisements for its Oscar Mayer Peanut Butter and Jelly Lunchables prepackaged "lunch combination."

According to CARU's press release, the television commercial promoting the product featured a child eating the peanut butter and jelly sandwich from the Lunchables kit, but not the fruit included with the meal. CARU determined that the advertisement did not depict a "nutritionally balanced meal" as defined by the group's guidelines.

CARU requires that any depiction of a nutritionally balanced meal should contain at least three of the five major food groups. In addition, the guidelines state that it is preferable for advertisements to include the food groups recommended for increased consumption by current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans (i.e., fruits, vegetables, fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products and whole grains).

Kraft has agreed to modify the advertising in accordance with CARU's recommendations.

Click here to read the CARU press release.

Advertising Standards Board's Facebook Ruling Throws International Advertisers a Curveball

April Dembosky reports in an August 14 Financial Times story about a recent ruling by Australia's Advertising Standards Bureau that raises questions about the hidden costs of social media marketing and highlights the significant differences in advertising standards from country to country.

In the ruling, the Advertising Standards Bureau ruled that companies are responsible for the content posted to social media pages promoting their brands. This includes monitoring pages and other social media presences for misleading and defamatory posts, as well as posts that violate advertising decency standards.

"If the burden falls on the advertiser to review and ensure that every single thing a third party posts for truthful and accurate advertising, that would be ridiculously expensive to provide that," said Andrea Levine, director of the National Advertising Division of the U.S. Council of Better Business Bureaus. "If I were an advertiser, I'd just take that off my site."

David Ellison, the marketing services manager for the Incorporated Society for British Advertisers, told the Financial Times that...