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Not child’s play!

In the light of modern knowledge about fast food, what are marketers and regulators in India doing about responsible marketing?

Happy meals, unhappy consequences? Marketers of fast food and colas need to market responsibly in countries other than the US too.

Ramesh Narayan

Ever since midnight’s grandchildren began to think, they have been exposed to a range of tempting products and a barrage of well-aimed advertising. My generation was born in free India but we never even had television to distract us. Amin Sayani and his Binaca Geet Mala was the only ‘entertainment’ the air waves brought into our living room. I grew up thinking Amin Sayani was a Sinhalese gentleman broadcasting out of Colombo on Radio Ceylon.

My son Ishan belongs to a generation far removed from the innocence (some would say ignorance) that surrounded my growing years. Multiple children’s channels keep him switching from Disney to Pogo to Cartoon Network. And then he has his PS2 and PSP to keep his fingers and mind in an agitated mood. He is not averse to seeing shows like American Idol or its Indian counterparts, or shows like Sa Re Ga Ma, and he likes watching MTV and V as well. And he loves his McAloo Tikkis and his Coke. This is not unique to my son. It could well be a descriptor for an age group ranging from 10 to 14 years. And I say this because all this complicates our lives as parents of these little consumers tremendously.

I recall reading a report prepared for Cartoon Network by a market research agency a few years ago. In fact, Cartoon Network took that report and went to town showing it to media planners and advertisers. It spoke about the efficacy of what it had branded as ‘pester power’. Any parent would understand that term, but an advertiser and media planner would in the years that followed, use that information to focus what is now called ‘child-directed’ advertising with deliberate accuracy.

As the world around us changes dramatically, so do the social mores and the way we think and behave. Till a few years ago, we marvelled at Mudra’s advertising for Pioma that had a little moppet saying, “I love you Rasna!” We read case studies about the McDonald’s marketing and advertising strategy that combined product advertising with advertising that positioned the insides of the fabled golden arches as a great place for the entire family to meet and eat in. We grew up in awe of Coke and Pepsi as iconic brands and closely studied how they used celebrity endorsements to achieve a global reach.

Suddenly one is perceiving a shift in our attitudes to all these classic case studies. Put it down to the increasing awareness about health worldwide. Or to the fact that now, apart from being consumers, we are also parents of consumers. Whatever it may be, the fact of the matter is that these iconic brands are now in the news for all the wrong reasons. Rasna would now be seen as a nutrient-empty, sugar-soaked drink that children may not need. With obesity now acknowledged as an epidemic in the US, and a growing concern about it in the higher economic echelons of India, McDonald’s could be seen as a horrific calorie-saturated junk food and in combination with those lovely French fries and thick shakes, is a nutritionist’s nightmare and a health-lobbyist’s favourite whipping boy. And then those aerated beverages such as Coke and Pepsi are seen as empty calories and addictive.

Pretty harsh, it would seem. And what is the response of the manufacturers? Well, one can hardly expect them to apologise to a world full of corpulent individuals whose arteries are clogged with all kinds of fats, compensate them monetarily for all the health problems attributed to the usage of these fantastic products and then limp off into a sunset tinged red with brushstrokes of debt and penury. Indra Nooyi being an amazingly clever manager might have pointed at the direction all these companies would have to take sooner if not later. Pepsi would concentrate on building the equity of its juices, water and energy drinks. So would Coke. Other companies with a similar portfolio of products would also think of a gradual product diversification. Yet, in the interim, and the interim could be ten years, they would slowly retreat, with their big guns blazing at all times.

Their strategy would be in a way similar to the tobacco giants. Never accept that tobacco was almost homicidal. Throw billions of dollars to fight innumerable court battles. Use the precious freedoms that are enshrined in the Constitutions of all civilised nations to systematically defend their seemingly indefensible stands. And slowly keep shifting their portfolio of products.

“But do brands really have such an impact on kids?” A recent study in Chicago showed that even carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to children when wrapped in the packaging of Mc Donald’s. That is the power of advertising. And that is the power of a brand. And all power must be used for the general good, right? Well, in the US the clear threat of impending tough legislation made 11 big food companies including Pepsi, McDonald’s and Campbell Soup agree to stop advertising products that do not meet certain nutritional standards to children under 12.

Critics, however, were not impressed. They feel these steps fall far short of what child advocacy groups have been asking for. Also, there is the very real problem that while these companies might cut back on advertising certain products on channels and programmes that are aimed specifically at children, what about the advertising that could safely appear on programmes such as American Idol which would not be classified as being aimed at kids but are watched by millions of them?

And what is the situation in India? Unfortunately, we have a Government that is quick to frame regulation to regulate content on television, and quicker to pass legislation that regularises illegal housing but clearly does not see it urgent to ponder over the effects of communication on the health of 40 per cent of its population that is under the age of 15. Socially too, we award a company that has a CSR programme that seeks to take irrigation to rural areas blissfully ignoring the fact that more than half the revenue of that company comes from the sale of harmful tobacco products. But why blame that corporate? It is still legal to grow tobacco, to produce cigarettes, to peddle them at every roadside stall to anyone, without a care of the user’s age.

You also have the real problems where children in India, like elsewhere, do watch programming not specifically targeted at them. One must accept that reality. Also, what is the big deal if a McDonald’s will only advertise (in the US) a “375 calories 4-piece chicken McNuggets happy meal with apple dippers, low fat caramel dip and 1 per cent low fat milk”? As long as the outlet is advertised as a great family-style eatery, it would still lure the kids in, and then who is to keep them away from the Big Mac, fries and shake? And are the Pepsis and Cokes and McDonalds of India at least making noises that they will self-regulate their advertising to kids?

Well, if they are, I am not hearing them too clearly. And we thought we lived in a global village! I would imagine what is not good for the health of an American child would not be good for mine. Or am I missing something? I believe it is in everybody’s interests to sit around a table and agree to put children’s health above any other concern. Otherwise, the heavy stick of the regulator could be wielded in its normal clumsy way.

(Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant.)

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