Consumer goods group Unilever is restricting the advertising of its products to children. In the future, the marketing of food and beverages is to be completely discontinued both in traditional media and on social media. A corresponding deadline for the Unilever brands, which must comply with the new principles, expires in January 2023, as the group announced.
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The new principles cover four key points. For example, Unilever does not want to target children under the age of 16 through marketing or communication on social media. In addition, the Group prohibits the collection or storage of data about this age group. Unilever also has stricter rules in influencer marketing. The corresponding message clearly states: “No use of influencers, celebrities or social media stars who are under the age of 16 or who are primarily aimed at children under the age of 16.” The advertising regulations for influencers should be clearly disclosed and the The attractiveness of influencer content for children should be limited.
The principles apply to the global corporation’s entire food and refreshment business. Unilever expressly emphasizes that the marketing of ice cream is also affected.
“Raising the bar for responsible marketing”
“We recognize the power social media and influencer marketing can have on children’s choices and believe it is important to raise the bar for responsible marketing to a minimum age of 16 in both traditional and social media increase,” says Matt Close, President Ice Cream at Unilever. In many countries around the world, the age limit for targeted marketing is 13 years.
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