The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB), in partnership with the National Confectioners Association (NCA), recently announced a new self-regulatory initiative under which participating confectionery companies agree not to advertise directly to children under the age of 12.
This voluntary, opt-in initiative, known as the Children's Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI), is modeled after the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), another CBBB-administered self-regulatory program. The six charter participants of the CCAI are Ferrara Candy Company, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, Jelly Belly Candy Company, Just Born Quality Confections, The Promotion in Motion Companies and R.M. Palmer Company. They have pledged not to engage in confectionery advertising primarily directed to children under the age of 12 or to advertise their candy in school to children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Six other confectionery companies – American Licorice Company, Ferrero USA, The Hershey Company, Mars, Inc., Mondelez International and Nestlé – are CFBAI participants and also do not advertise directly to children.
The CCAI is designed for small-to-medium size confectionery companies that wish to adopt the CFBAI's core principles but are unable to participate in that program independently. According to the CBBB, the administrative requirements of the CCAI will be more streamlined than the CFBAI. For example, CCAI participants will not be required to submit individual pledges but will have their participation noted on the BBB-CFBAI's webpage for the CCAI program. CCAI participants also do not have to submit comprehensive annual compliance reports; instead, they must submit an annual statement that they have complied with their CCAI commitments.
The CFBAI will independently monitor compliance with the commitments to not engage in child-directed advertising, and CCAI participants agree to respond on a timely basis to reasonable requests for information from the CFBAI.
The Federal Trade Commission welcomed the addition of the CCAI to the CBBB's existing Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.
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