Entry # 20

I think that online food advertising strategies targeted towards children are very clever. Let’s face it: during our generation, we enjoyed getting free toys in our cereal boxes. We loved playing physical games with our friends. It’s the same for the online food ads companies are doing right now. Instead of giving away toys and freebies that come with the food, why not give away codes that can unlock special features/games that kids would love to play? We are now living in a digitalized world but the marketing strategy has always been the same. It’s all a matter of innovating and coping up with the changes.

I don’t think it’s right to blame advertisers with the high rates of childhood obesity. Products are meant to be consumed, and it is their job to make the products they advertise sellable.  Parents should supervise kids with the food they eat and make sure that even though they are giving them food that are generally unhealthy, they make sure that the kids do physical activities or encourage them to eat healthy food.

However, one thing I don’t like with online food advertising is that it promotes the use of computers/gadgets. It’s not that it’s bad, but it promotes a generally unhealthy lifestyle. Kids would rather face their gadgets every day instead of playing outside, and I think that’s one of the main contributors to the obesity epidemic that is happening today.

I honestly think it’s all a matter of moderation and responsible parenting. The truth is that advertisers will try to find ways to promote the products they are assigned to advertise even if it can be harmful for others. They shouldn’t be blamed because they are simply doing their job. We can’t always just look at the bad side of online food advertising as it has its peaks too. It promotes creativity, responsible internet usage, etc. If they can find ways to make the children aware of the nutritional values chart for the products by injecting fun into it, then that would be better.