Major ice cream makers vow to stop marketing to kids
Ice cream might be the favorite treat of many kids, but the parent company of some of the best known ice cream brands says it plans to stop advertising to children by the end of the year.
....MOREUnilever, which owns Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Klondike, Good Humor, Talenti, Magnum, Cornetto, Viennetta, Choc Ice and others, has announced plans to stop television and print marketing to children younger than 12, and will curb any social media promotions for children under 13.Rising child obesity rates are behind the decision.
"The World Health Organization names childhood obesity as one of the most serious public health issues of the 21st century," the company said in a statement. "And it’s a key reason why Unilever is committing to new principles on marketing and advertising foods and beverages to children."
Unilever pledged to change its practices before the end of the year, offering an extensive list of new marketing principles. Children under 12 will not appear in ads. And parents will always be "portrayed in control of the access to the product," the company said....
Related:
"Is Ben & Jerry's misleading consumers? Lawsuit says 'happy cow' representation not quite true" (UNA:EN Amsterdam)
Apparently only some of the cows are happy.
Many of the rest are moody through morose to borderline suicidal while some turn it outward into hostility and violence. Plotting and scheming in their herds and hordes.
So much for that placid, benign ruminator image.
From the Burlington Free Press, Nov. 7:
Is Ben & Jerry's misleading its customers about the type of milk and cream used in its ice cream?Environmental advocate and former gubernatorial candidate James Ehlers says yes, and that its parent company, Unilever, is profiting because of the false advertising, according to a recent lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington.According to the federal complaint, filed Oct. 29, Winooski resident Ehlers alleges that Unilever violated its customers' trust by saying Ben & Jerry's products were made with milk and cream sourced from "happy cows" on Vermont dairy farms that participate in its humane "Caring Dairy" program.Only a minority of the cream and milk used in the ice cream comes from these types of farms, the complaint alleges....
....MUCH MORE, including a discussion of what makes a cow happy and Unilever's culpability in the alleged bovine distress.
