Unilever-owned manufacturers together with Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum will not goal kids or collect their knowledge in any of its markets.
Unilever is to stop marketing food and drinks to kids under-16 throughout all of its media channels globally, selecting to “elevate the bar” on present restrictions.
As a part of its “enhanced” rules, the FMCG large can even stop accumulating or storing knowledge on anybody under-16.
The new guidelines will apply throughout each conventional media and social media. Unilever will not use influencers or celebrities who’re under-16 or primarily attraction to younger individuals in that age group, and says it is going to work to restrict the attraction of its influencer content material to kids.
Unilever can even chorus from selling its manufacturers or merchandise in faculties, except particularly requested to take part in academic campaigns.
The FMCG firm owns food and refreshment manufacturers together with Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Wall’s. In January, Unilever introduced it was spinning off these ice cream manufacturers right into a separate class because it restructured its enterprise round 5 pillars, which additionally embody magnificence and wellbeing, private care, dwelling care and vitamin.
Its different food manufacturers, corresponding to Marmite and Hellmann’s, now fall into the vitamin class.
These manufacturers may have till January 2023 to adjust to these new rules.Unilever highlights Ben & Jerry’s and Hellmann’s progress following model goal criticism
Currently, in most nations on the planet, the food and beverage business restricts marketing to kids below 13 years previous.
However, in accordance to Unilever’s president of ice cream Matt Close, the enterprise believes it’s “essential to elevate the bar” on accountable marketing, because it recognises “the facility” that social media and influencer marketing can have on kids’s decisions.
“By making these adjustments, our purpose is to proceed to cut back kids’s publicity to promoting from the food and beverage business, and as a substitute assist dad and mom to choose acceptable treats, to be loved from time to time,” he says.
In some nations, such because the UK and Portugal, these rules are already partially met, totally met or exceeded by way of its compliance with present legal guidelines and rules.
In the UK, meals or drinks which are excessive in fats, salt or sugar (HFSS) aren’t allowed to be marketed in a method that’s directed at under-16s. The UK authorities is introducing legal guidelines that may see an entire ban on the marketing of HFSS food and drink on digital channels and on TV earlier than 9pm. These new legal guidelines will come into impact on the finish of this yr.
Unilever claims it grew to become one of many first corporations to apply particular restrictions to marketing food and drinks to kids in 2003. In 2020, the enterprise up to date its restrictions by ending marketing of the class to kids below the age of 12 in conventional media, and below the age of 13 by way of social media channels.
Over the final yr, Unilever has divested some elements of its food and drinks enterprise. In November final yr it bought its tea enterprise, which included manufacturers like Lipton and Tazo. In January, CEO Alan Jope mentioned the corporate was contemplating divesting another elements of its food and drink enterprise which are experiencing slower progress.
https://www.marketingweek.com/unilever-to-stop-marketing-food-and-drink-to-under-16s-by-2023/
