“Use of children in advertisements” Letters to Editor, 27 Feb 2014. (not published)

Letter to Editor (The Fiji Times, Fiji Sun, Island Business, Republika)
27 February 2014 (Fiji Sun, 5 March 2014)

Use of children in advertisements

Dear Sir/Madam

The Fiji public is now daily deluged with advertisements (through television, radio and newspapers) which try to sell their products by associating them with assistance for students and schools.

Two prominent products are chicken and noodles, but there are others.

Some are wholesome products while some may not be good for Fiji’s nutrition and food security in the long run.

While assistance for education is a worthy exercise, I would be grateful if  the Commerce Commission and Consumer Council of Fiji would answer the following questions:

(a) is it ethical for corporations to target the advertisements at children, who then place pressure on parents to purchase the products.

(b) do the Commerce Commission and the Consumer Council of Fiji have any policy on this matter

(c) if the answer to (b) is yes, why then are they not banning these advertisements?

Professor Wadan Narsey