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After being subjected to way too many SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons by my kids, I never thought I would be the one to stand up for the guy. But, pushing junk food on kids is no way for any self-respecting sponge to make a living. You see, SpongeBob airs on Nickelodeon and a 2012 study by the Center on Science and the Public Interest found that 69% of Nickelodeon food ads sell junk food to kids.
Tell Nickelodeon to stop marketing junk food to kids!
Why Nickelodeon? A 2013 Yale Rudd Center study of advertising on children’s television stations found that, “Nickelodeon was responsible for more than one-quarter of food ads viewed by children 8 and younger. In addition, one Nickelodeon program, SpongeBob SquarePants, delivered 12% of all food ads viewed by 2- to 5-year olds and 11% of ads viewed by 6- to 8-year olds.”
Yet Nickelodeon, unlike Disney, does not require all advertisers to meet nutrition guidelines.
It's time for that to change!
Once a year, on Worldwide Day of Play, Nickelodeon suspends all junk food marketing to children for 3 WHOLE HOURS! (Join me in eye roll.) During the other 8,784 hours of the year, 8,781 if it’s a leap year, 69% of Nickelodeon food ads are for foods that lack any type of nutritional value.
It's time for Nickelodeon to stop using characters our children love, like SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer, to push unhealthy food.
Our children don’t live in a pineapple under the sea and should not have to embark on a quest for healthy options. The experts have spoken and so have the numbers. They can no longer turn a blind eye to the stats noted below.
- A Federal Trade Commission report found that companies spent $1.79 billion in 2009 on advertising food to kids.
- Almost 1 in 3 young people is at risk for nutrition-related diseases like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Join us in demanding corporate responsibility! Moms and dads must stand up for children and tell Nickelodeon to do the right thing and adopt strong nutrition standards for advertisements and marketing through all of their child-directed media!
Join us now in telling Nickelodeon to get moving on nutritional guidelines for marketing for kids.
Together we can make a difference.
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