Calls to ban advertising to young children have been rejected.
ISBA – the voice of British advertisers – rejected the calls from a pressure group for an immediate ban on the advertising of products aimed at children.
The firm responded to a letter published in The Daily Telegraph from the ‘Leave Our Kids Alone’ campaign.
Ian Twinn, ISBA’s Director of Public Affairs, said: "Prohibiting adverts aimed at children completely undermines the power of the parent in saying ‘no’ and ignores the independently regulated restrictions and codes, which advertisers already work within, and with the backing of government.
“Advertising provides all consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions and the evidence shows that self-regulation is working, with great strides also being made in the online space which our children inhabit too.
"If anyone is to be accused of ‘sleepwalking’, it is the so-called experts and academics who have been woolly-minded and willfully ignorant of reality in this latest clarion call.
“The example cited of Greece is particularly disingenuous; there the ban on advertising toys on TV had more to do with economic protectionism than responsible advertising.
"What we have in the UK is a system of self-regulation that protects and empowers consumers to make their own minds up in a thriving and open market."
