Alcohol, Then Tobacco. Now Fast Food?

Chain restaurants, despite their efforts, face mounting pressure to curb marketing of unhealthy foods to children. Are outright fast-food bans next?

By Douglas MacMillan

The idea for "Alcohol, Then Tobacco. Now Fast Food?" came from BusinessWeek reader Geetha Thurairajah, an undergraduate at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont.

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New York City Councilman Eric Gioia is drafting a bill that would forbid fast-food chains from opening new restaurants within one-tenth of a mile of city schools. Gioia cites a recent study's finding that when schools in California are that close to hamburgers and french fries, the student obesity rate is likely to be 5.2% higher. "Of course there's a degree of personal responsibility here," says Gioia. "But municipalities across the country need to be making it easier to be a good parent and raise healthier kids."

In recent years, public criticism and mountains of data linking obesity, diabetes, and other health problems to the regular consumption of fast food has caused the industry to rethink its entrenched practice of marketing to kids. McDonald's (MCD) now offers apple wedges as a substitute for fries in Happy Meals, and Taco Bell parent Yum! Brands (YUM) has stopped advertising on TV shows aimed at kids 12 and under.

But a growing number of consumer advocates and legislators are concerned that fast-food companies continue to pitch unhealthy eats to children. "In their minds, they've done what they need to do," says Dr. Jennifer Harris of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. "In the minds of the people in the public health field who are concerned about kids, there's a long way to go."

Consumer advocates are calling for regulation that would make children off-limits to fast-food marketers, much as they are to alcohol and tobacco companies. "The food and restaurant industry needs to be responsible in how they market to children or else the government will step in and then require them to," says Dr. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Kids See Ads Targeted at Adults

McDonald's and Burger King (BKC) are among the 15 food and beverage companies that have pledged to focus greater advertising resources on healthy foods, part of an initiative spearheaded in 2006 by the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB). Among principles the companies agree to uphold: Half of all marketing messages aimed at children must include foods that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration defines as healthy; ads must use fewer licensed characters; and advertising must not be placed in schools. "They're very committed to getting it right," says Elaine Kolish, who leads the Children's Food & Beverage Initiative for the CBBB. Her group will report its second annual audit of these companies in July.

Critics say these pledges don't go far enough and lack participation from a few major quick-service operators such as Yum Brands and Subway. Yale's Harris notes that children are routinely exposed to a variety of media that aren't specifically aimed at them—such as American Idol—but which contain ad messages that are. "They still can continue to advertise anything they want on general audience programming," she says.

Moreover, such new media as social networking and video-sharing sites on the Web fall outside the definitions maintained by the CBBB. One promotion Wendy's created for Father's Day asked kids to create e-cards for their dads, featuring a Frosty, the chain's popular ice cream snack.

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