.
There is not only one specific law dealing with the subject, but several devices within the Brazilian legal system, which aim to protect and defend the rights of children and adolescents when it comes to advertising aimed at such an audience.
Therefore, it is essential that parents are aware of the set of issues surrounding the subject, so that they can surround themselves with care and know how to adopt the necessary measures when their children’s rights and their safety are somehow threatened.
Online advertising and children
Excessive online advertising is a condition so present and for so long, in the most different uses we make of the Web, that most of us have simply got used to it and, in a way, have already created a kind of “automatic filter” to select and differentiate what we want. really matters, what is there to supposedly fulfill our wants and needs as consumers.
For others, it’s simply acceptable and understandable to have free content on the Internet, in exchange for a little hassle and hassle to watch a video, read a text or who knows how to use an interesting and/or useful app.
But there are also those who simply don’t have the patience or the understanding that in the digital world, as in the real world, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and resort to an ad blocker.
The problem with this behavior of any of the three groups to which it belongs is that we fail to analyze when Digital Marketing advances the limits of ethics, privacy, abusiveness and even legality.
And if such limits are not respected in relation to the adult individual, what about children and adolescents?
Children’s exposure
In 2022, it was disclosed by the survey ICT Kids Online Brazill, referring to the year 2021 and conducted by the Regional Center for Studies for the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) of the Information and Coordination Center of Ponto BR (NIC.br), that 96% of Brazilian children between 9 and 17 years old, are Internet users, accessing it every day or almost daily.
In this universe, 81% were exposed to advertising content on the Internet, although most did not recognize it as advertising. On the other hand, 56% confirmed some type of interaction with product or brand content, with girls being more exposed, particularly advertising for cosmetics, clothes and shoes.
According to Luísa Adib, Coordinator of the ICT Kids Online Brasil Survey, sites whose content is based on videos (67%) were the main means by which children and adolescents had contact with online advertising or publicity.
In addition, 88% of this audience revealed having at least one profile / account on social networks:
- WhatsApp is the most used, being accessed by 78% of young people between 9 and 17 years old;
- Next in preference for children and adolescents are Instagram (62%), TikTok (58%) and Facebook (47%);
- Tik Tok is the favorite network for 9 and 10 year olds, used by 35% of them. Among 15- to 17-year-olds, Instagram is preferred with 51% adoption, followed by TikTok with 32% popularity.
In other words, the number of children who have access to and use the World Wide Web and are therefore exposed to all kinds of advertising, including advertising aimed at children, is immense.
And many times advertising doesn’t even have the “face” of advertising.
We are talking about the many ways in which it can be presented and which even adults are subject to.
This is the case of Digital Marketing and digital influencers. Are the famous unboxing videos of products or reviews, which are often “sponsored” by brands / manufacturers, identifiable as advertising by a 7 or 8 year old?
When it is not the children themselves who appear as producers of this type of content, which is another increasingly common reality.
The “young youtubers” unwrap packages of the most different products for their age and whose objective is just one – to produce the desire to own that item in their audience.
Like their audience, they are also children, but they receive “gifts” and are enticed by brands to work for them, covertly, promoting their products through their channels and circumventing the set of rules that should protect children from harassment advertising. Not to mention the exploration of the “poster boy” himself, here in more than one sense.
Who is the child consumer audience?
According to Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA), child is every person up to twelve years of age. From then on, until the age of 18, she is considered a teenager.
Therefore, any and all marketing communication, with the aim of disclosing and stimulating the consumption of a product, brand or service, by the public between 0 and 12 years of age, is classifiable as advertising for children.
When we expand this audience and also consider teenagers, they represent almost 30% of the population, according to Demographic Census 2022 of the IBGE, or more than 60 million consumers, who, despite often not being responsible for the purchase, have some level of influence.
According to a guide prepared by the Kids Corp, an organization that works for children, adolescents and families in Latin America and their interaction with brands and content in the digital environment, there are four categories in which children and adolescents fall and the level of influence they exert on consumption:
- First stage – corresponds to children up to 3 years of age, stage in which 100% of purchasing decisions are essentially taken by parents or guardians;
- Pre-schoolers – this age range comprises children from 4 to 6 years old, when they already express their tastes and interests and, for this reason, already have some level of influence in the acquisition of some items. 45% influence the subscription to streaming services and 50% interfere with the purchase of food and beverages;
- Third stage – in this stage, which includes children between 7 and 9 years of age, the influence grows in percentage compared to the previous one and covers a larger category of products (clothing, toys, etc.), with 1 in 5 already even receive an allowance or money to buy items they want, without having to consult their parents;
- Pre-adolescents – children from 11 to 13 years old, comprises the last stage, which also includes individuals for whom digital influencers and friends interfere with their tastes and are already looking to detach themselves from children’s brands. On average, 82% consume YouTube videos, 71% play video games and 53% watch different content via streaming.
For no other reason than studies indicate that 80% of all licensed products in Brazil are aimed at children.
In fact, it is a situation that is easily verifiable in practice, when, for example, we have to buy school supplies and we are faced with an infinity of items associated with characters from the children’s universe and the clear predilection that the little ones have for such products, be it the backpack world’s most famous doll, or the 10-year-old boy who can transform into 10 different alien heroes.
Is child advertising illegal?
As we said, there is not a single specific law that determines the limits or what is or is not allowed in terms of advertising to children, but different devices in the legal system that have served as a guide in related decisions.
The Consumer Protection Code (CDC) establishes that “advertising aimed at children takes advantage of this audience’s poor judgment and experience” and therefore advertising targeting this audience is considered abusive and illegal.
O Child and Adolescent Statute – ECA (Law nº 8.069/1990) – recognizes the child as a person in a special phase of physical, social and emotional development and seeks to guarantee their best interest in any type of relationship and, therefore, guaranteeing the rights of children with absolute priority is an obligation shared by all of society.
A Conanda Resolution No. 163 (National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents), establishes the abusiveness of targeting advertising and marketing communication to children and adolescents.
There is a broad and reasonably consensual understanding of the illegality of children’s advertising, as recognized by different federative entities, such as the public ministry, procon, public defense, senacom (National Consumer Secretariat) and even the STJ.
Therefore, directing advertising to children, in any means of communication – whether digital or not – or the child’s living space, is considered an abusive practice and, therefore, illegal.
And although it does not have the force of law, the National Advertising Self-Regulation Council (CONAR) also maintains a Best Practice Guide for Online Advertising aimed at children.
What to do with child advertising?
Once the scenario is clear, the question that remains is: “What to do when parents identify that their children are exposed to some type of child advertising?”.
It’s a reasonably new situation and a lot of people don’t know how to act. Including, the majority simply give in, as the study that pointed out that 6 out of 10 mothers are influenced by their children in the acquisition of superfluous products such as toys, clothes and sweets.
Unlike other digital threats, which can sometimes be dealt with through follow-up, conversations, education or even in cases where parental control resolves, as we have seen, online advertising can be subtle, covert and manifest itself in different ways.
This is the case with online games, in which the player is often “obliged” to see advertising in order to receive some type of resource in return that allows him to advance in the game.
The first step is to recognize it. In general, but not exclusively, at least one or some of the following elements are present:
- Childish language, special effects and excessive colors;
- Use of children’s-themed songs, or sung by children’s voices;
- Representation of children or children’s characters;
- Influencers or celebrities with appeal and penetration among children;
- Characters, children’s presenters or;
- cartoons or animations;
- Dolls, mascots or similar;
- Campaigns with distribution of prizes or collectible gifts or with appeals to children;
- Promotions with participation in children’s activities or games.
But for this, it is important that parents and/or guardians monitor the consumption of online content by their children.
Faced with the finding that a company, brand or product is advertising children, there are some entities to which it is possible to appeal and file a complaint:
- Food Advertising Observatory (OPA) – the entity not only works to combat child advertising, but also misleading advertising in general;
- Child and Consumption – one of the main and most active national entities that aims to defend children from commercial exploitation;
- Alana – the Alana institute / foundation, is another organization that has a wide range of activities on different fronts, including issues of socio-environmental impact and that promotes and inspires a better world for children;
- Procon – the websites of the Procons in your state are also a channel through which you can make complaints.
Conclusion
Learning how to identify and how to act in the face of online children’s advertising is essential for parents, within the set of care in the digital environment.
.
