Marketing to children is endemic; worldwide, children are exposed to unhealthy food and beverage advertisements through a range of media. This marketing tends to promote foods and beverages of low nutritional content. Influences on children’s eating habits are important, as there is a correlation between unhealthy diet and childhood obesity, and rates of childhood obesity are increasing. Obviously, unhealthy food marketing is not the sole cause of childhood obesity, but a contributory factor.

With growing concern regarding unhealthy diet and obesity, the marketing practices of ‘Big Food’ have come under scrutiny. It has been claimed that the current over-saturation of unhealthy food marketing shows that multinational food companies promote an inadequate and unhealthy diet in pursuit of private profit. Worldwide, the top 10 packaged food companies make up 15.2 per cent of sales. Simultaneously, concern is growing regarding the reach of ‘Big Tech’, including its use of data to target advertising towards children. In 2021, three companies, Google, Meta and Amazon made up 74 per cent of the global digital advertising spending. By harnessing digital media, it is feared that unhealthy marketing is increasing in reach and intensity.

Children are targets of marketing as they are often consumers in their own right with purchasing power, have influence over parents’s hopping and a future as adult consumers. In some markets, they are sufficiently lucrative consumers that food companies have developed special ‘kids’ foods, while restaurants offer ‘children’s ‘meals, both of which tend to be of low nutritional value. Parents’ desire to do the best for their children can be instrumentalised to sell products, while children’s preferences and habits are harnessed to attract future consumers. Adolescents meanwhile, have their own purchasing power, making them important targets.

Tensions are present as to the appropriate role of children in the consumer society. On the one hand, there is concern about the increasing scope, frequency, and emotive nature of advertising aimed at children. The expanse and targeted nature of marketing experienced by children is unprecedented compared to previous generations.