Crafted in 1903, Kraft Foods Inc, is now the largest food and beverage company in North America (Houseman, Hwa &O’Rourke). The company has grown into an international company that reaches a billion consumers in 150 countries (Kraft Foods Inc., 2006). They are known for providing high-quality, great taste and nutrition for all eating occasions whether at home, in restaurants or on the go, and are dedicated to the sustainable health of their people, planet and company (Kraft Foods Inc). Because the company holds ownership over many products, they are committed to ensuring the company continues to thrive, achieving growth and expanding to new markets. While multiple factors influence eating behaviors and food choices of youth, one potent force is food advertising (Story, 2002).
Food marketers are interested in youth as consumers because of their spending power, their purchasing influence, and as future adult consumers. Some of their most popular products are snacks, convenience foods, dairy products, and beverages. A major element of marketing is the sale (Harman, DesJardins, MacDonald, 2018). These days, we have multiple channels that are used daily to reach youth to foster brand-building and influence food product purchase behavior. Kraft, like many other companies are struggling to keep their advertisements from coming back to haunt them in the long run.
The heavy marketing directed towards youth, especially young children, appears to be driven largely by the desire to develop and build brand awareness/recognition, brand preference and brand loyalty. Studies have shown that our eating behaviors established during childhood track into adulthood and contribute to long-term health and chronic disease risk (Center for Disease Control). As an experienced company, Kraft is a leader in the food industry, and constantly receive criticism about their advertising campaigns. This raises questions of whether companies genuinely care about their consumers and stakeholders alike, or if they only see dollar signs.
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In return, the advertising campaigns be an ethical issue because we live in a time where accountability requires every individual and organization to take responsibility for their individual and collective actions. Collectively we have the social, political and legal power to enforce responsibility (Divinsky, 2008). Ethical issues in marketing exist because the targeting of children with fast food and unhealthy snacks lead children to not want to eat anything else and result in childhood obesity (Sandilands).
It was in 2001 that the food industry became more worried about the food marketing and childhood obesity and when large food companies became the blame or were sued for marketing products contributing to such health issues (Housman et al). Since then, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reported that kids today are exposed to fewer ads for cereal, candy and toys and now have been influenced by ads for restaurants and fast-food chains, other television shows, movies, video games and DVDs (Housman et al). Regardless of the company, ethical standards for businesses and organizations are crucial to the reputation and credibility.
Kid -targeted marketing is unethical. Alike, consumers demand that brands and companies be accountable for what they are selling and when the companies are not truthful and have misleading advertisements, this is false advertisement (Divinsky, 2008). The company lays emphasis on its commitment to customers, environment, shareholders, and society and because the advertisements do not portray this, the pressure from consumers, congressional panels, parent groups and other concerned citizens influenced Kraft to review their advertising policies (Housman et al).
Companies should strive to maintain loyalty and set ethical standards because it also affects their profits in the long run. Because they’ve been in business well over 100 years, they have managed to develop a relationship between its vision, mission and value statements, and its stakeholders. In this case, the stakeholders are the consumers, community, stockholders and suppliers who are all affected by the negative repercussions of the companies’ advertisements.
Both law and ethics rely on the safety and liability framework when evaluating cases where business products or services cause harm in the marketplace an there is an implicit promise that they will perform a promised without harming the users or consumers (Hartman et al). Kraft must act before it loses consumers’ loyalty and trust in their products (Housman et al). In 2005, Kraft announced that it would stop advertising certain products to children under 12, which caused an estimated $75 million in profit loss (Housman et al).
Since then, the company faced government regulation threats and negative feedback to critics and consumers. In an effort to make changes, Kraft has said they are changing the way they produce foods and will take health concerns into greater consideration (Barboza, 2003). They have also promised to eliminate in-school marketing to children, introduce smaller portion sizes and develop healthier, more nutritious products (Barboza, 2003).
Rebranding and better food quality are two options among many for Kraft’s marketing tactics. As we’ve learned, there are elements of marketing that involve several aspects of creating a product or service and bringing it to the market for exchange (Hartman et al). By holding businesses strictly liable for any harm their products cause, society creates a strong incentive for business to produce safer goods and services (Hartman et al). In this situation, the harm caused is the misleading advertisements and the conclusion of television advertisements influencing children.
