Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Cliff Medney

I pledge allegiance to the …

We all know how it goes, or how we think it goes. The unconditional daily declaration to America and the values she holds dear.

As marketers, we now live in a new age, with a new pledge. This is the pledge cited by the Federal Trade Commission in its recent report, “Protecting America's Children.” This pledge is in fact the commitment food marketers and other media influencers have made and are making on behalf of our kids.

The report finds “that while there is room for improvement,” the food and beverage industries have made significant progress since the FTC and Department of Health and Human Services co-sponsored the landmark Workshop on Marketing, Self-Regulation & Childhood Obesity, held in 2005.

Coming out of this workshop and launched by the Council of Better Business Bureaus in 2006, the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative was applauded in the report for taking important steps to encourage better nutrition and fitness among our children. To date, 13 of the nation's largest food companies, accounting for the majority of food and beverage media expenditures toward children, have adopted the initiative — from not targeting kids under 12 to limiting their media buys to foods meeting specific nutritional guidelines.

Listening to the critics of the progress made on the initiative you get a sense they should either be doing more or, worse, maybe even be subject to governmental regulation.

Robert Kesten, the executive director of the Center for Screen-Time Awareness, a Washington, D.C., group that aims to limit media influence, seems incredulous that these companies could actually be trusted to act responsibly. His view is grounded in the idea that a lack of “uniformity” in these firms' definition of health and wellness somehow insinuates a low-bar approach to dealing with the real issues of childhood obesity.

The fact that the FTC sees real progress, finds real commitment by these companies in regard to children's best interests, should be enough to squelch the skepticism.

In reality, in a dynamic, free marketplace where nutritional values speak volumes about the organization's understanding of and connection to its consumer, it would be foolish, maybe even corporately irresponsible, not to do everything possible to aggressively market that position. Even FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz noted that companies not yet vested in the initiative need to be, not only for the public's interest, but for their own self-interest.

Let me also just say that investing doesn't only mean more research and development in hopes of creating a sustainable pipeline. There are many examples in this discussion where real, hard-fought innovation has enabled many existing products to be reformulated to offer significant health benefits. The whole grain and sugar reduction movement by the “big three” cereal companies, General Mills, Kellogg's and Post, is a well-documented example of marketplace-centered, nutrition-based leadership.

Investing, as in “investing in our children's future,” often means taking direct action and a direct hit. Disney is creating and enforcing strict nutritional guidelines for its food company partnerships, thereby limiting the partner playing field in an already tough economic environment — a great example of action speaking louder than words. A recent article in The New York Times following the FTC announcement noted that Kellogg's has been reformulating Pop Tarts to meet its “better-for-you” criteria. If it is unable to do so, it has committed to shifting the target from kids to adults.

So, let's end as we started, by taking a pledge together in continuing to evolve the process of health and wellness for our children. This means expecting nothing less than the best “better-for-you” products and marketing practices from our food companies, and for the media outlets to be a “trans-parent” ally with how they come into our homes and engage our kids. Simply, by exceeding today's expectations of our peers, of our consumers, of our critics and, most important, of ourselves, we will see real progress continue.

That said, please repeat after me: I pledge allegiance to the foods … well, you know what the rest needs to say.

Cliff Medney is chief marketing officer at Eastwest Marketing Group, an independent, fully integrated marketing agency. He can be reached at cmedney@eastwestmg.com.

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