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Advertisers who improperly target children and sexualise the young would be banned from bidding for official contracts for three years under a Conservative government.
(Alan Davidson/The Picture Library Ltd)
Cameron with daughter Nancy, who broke his iPod when she was banned from listening to Lily Allen songs
Stealth sales techniques that recruit children to push brands on social networking websites would also be banned, David Cameron announced yesterday.
The political battle over how best to shield children from damaging media influences will intensify next week when an official review recommends that ministers close down internet sites promoting eating disorders, The Times has learnt.
Yesterday it was Mr Cameron’s turn to convince parents that he shares their concerns, launching a crackdown on irresponsible advertisers before touring broadcast studios.
The Tory leader revealed that he had “worries” over songs by Lily Allen and had tried to stop his six-year-old daughter Nancy from listening to the pop star. He admitted that when his wife Samantha tried to enforce the rule, a “tussle” broke out and Nancy broke his iPod.
Mr Cameron said he accepted that children cannot be shielded from all commercial pressures but said that he wanted to help parents to take action against firms who exploited children. “You can’t cut children off from the commercial world, of course you can’t, but we should be able to help parents more in terms of trying to make sure that our children get a childhood and that they are not subject to unnecessary and inappropriate commercialisation and sexualisation too young,” he said in an interview on GMTV.
The Tory leader has raised the issue on a number of previous occasions. In 2008 he supported calls for Woolworths to withdraw a girls’ bedroom furniture range called Lolita.
The Advertising Standards Authority, the industry’s own watchdog, currently polices rules on marketing to youngsters. It logged complaints that made reference to children against 799 adverts last year but upheld only 28. The Conservatives plan to make it easier for parents to protest if they feel that companies are sexualising children or otherwise improperly targeting them.
Under the party’s proposals, those advertisers found to have “seriously” broken the guidelines would be banned from bidding for government contracts for three years. … Continue reading
