The Future of Children's Media: Advertising

American companies currently spend $15 billion a year on marketing and advertising to children under the age of 12. Annually, children influence $500 billion in spending on fast food, junk food, toys and other advertised products, and the average child sees thousands of ads on television alone. From video games and the Internet to cell phones and iPods, new and emerging media are changing the ways in which advertisers reach consumers. On July 20, 2006, Children Now hosted a conference in Washington, D.C., that brought together the nation's leading children's media executives, policymakers, academics and advocates. The full-day conference explored how new advertising and marketing methods are being used to reach children. It also examined what is on the horizon and possible steps to better ensure children's well-being in a rapidly evolving media environment, including potential policy and voluntary industry solutions. The report includes highlights from addresses by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Sam Brownback, and comments from FCC Commissioners Michael J. Copps, Deborah Taylor Tate, and Jonathan Adelstein. Two panel discussions are summarized: (1) Surveying the Landscape: Advertising and Marketing to Kids in the Digital Age; and (2) Strategies to Address Advertising and Marketing Concerns. Following the conference, Children Now charted a five-year agenda, including research and policy goals, and ways to work together with media, advertising, food and other industries to achieve voluntary change. (Contains 3 endnotes.) [Additional support provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.] ["The Future of Children's Media: Advertising" is the first in a series of national Children Now conferences that will proactively address pressing issues in the media environment that can have both positive and negative implications for children. The conference structure is based on the belief that, in order to create a healthy and diverse media environment, children must both be provided with content that supports their healthy development and protected from potential harm.]