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HAVE YOUR SAY: Will the junk food ad ban affect the licensing business?
Samantha Loveday Jan 4 2008, 9:50am
Comments (2)
Licensing.biz invites you to join the first debate of 2008 online.
A new ban on adverts for junk food during TV programmes aimed at children under 16 came into force earlier this week.
Ofcom's latest move is part of a staged crackdown on advertising during shows aimed at or appealing to children. In April 2007, ads were banned during programmes made to appeal to seven to nine year-olds, and by December dedicated children's channels had to phase them out altogether.
But, with commercial children's stations now predicting a drop in ad revenue of 15 per cent, nine per cent for child-oriented satellite channels and one per cent for terrestrial broadcasters, what could the potential cost be to the licensing industry?
Licensing on food products is already a difficult issue - and Ofcom is also planning to ban the use of characters and celebrities from advertising unhealthy food.
What will the implications of this be? Do licensors have a responsibility to choose 'healthy' products in their food promotions? Could this spell the end of fast food promotions altogether?
We want to hear what you think.
Simply post a comment in the box below.
Comments
“Junk”
Posted by: Bernard Matthews - Jan 4, 11:05am
Mmm... Turkey Twizzlers
“Re: Junk”
Posted by: Kelvyn Gardner - Jan 7, 10:07am
The new Ofcom regulations specifically rule out the use of licensed characters on foods that are defined by the FSA as high in fat, sugar or salt. There is no discriminating for treats as against everyday foods. LIMA belives this to be unfair from many aspects, including the fact that so-called 'proprietory characters' ( for example Ronald McDonald or Tony the Tiger ) can continue to be used. Make no mistakle, this will hurt the licensing industry in the UK.