Junk Food Web Marketing to Kids Rises

It’s illegal to sell directly to kids online, to deceive them and to take their personal information without parental permission, but that doesn’t prevent companies from conducting more subtle online marketing to reach the younger set.

Indeed, targeting to children and teens tends to take an interactive approach by involving youngsters through games and contests.

And guess whose brands and characters these interactive tools are built around? You guessed it — the company that built the website. So reports Mike Shields, in a fascinating Media Week article, “Web Marketing to Kids is Rising.”

To get a feel for this online marketing, check out such stand-alone gaming sites such as Kraft’s Candystand; Post’s Postopia, and Frito-Lay’s INNW.com. There is also this resource on the best PC under $500.

A visit to Postopia, for example, offers kids a game called Night Spy Mission,” described as, “Get to the kitchen for a midnight snack without waking anyone up!”

Is this a game or a subliminal message urging kids to nosh on their products while their parents are asleep?

Kids playing Night Spy Mission are invited to learn to power up the game. “Look for Postoken Codes inside specially marked boxes of Post Kids Cereal and then you can power up with a special reward!”

Excuse me, am I missing something? This isn’t considered kids-targeted Internet advertising?

Interestingly, a small “Ad Break” does concede: “The games and other activities on this website include messages about the products Kraft sells.”

Over at Candystand, the puzzle game “Matchmaker” invites kids to “Spin candy pieces to make matches while you race the clock!”

Meanwhile, if you click on the top candy nav bar, up pop a bunch of different sweets, including many with the Lifesavers brand. You can even see an ad, if you click still further. And, if you go for Trolli at the bottom of the page, then then “varieties” and next onto Sour Brite Octopus, you’ll be urged, “Dive into a bag today!”

I certainly wouldn’t use the word “subtle,” as reporter Shields does. Sounds pretty misleading to me.

What do you think?