Are we crossing the line with marketing!!!

Retailers spend a lot of time planning the placement of products. Marketing candies to children is not new, but are we crossing the line.

With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, marketers are finding innovative ways to reach targeted customers. U.S. food companies are reaching children by embedding their products in simple and enticing games for smartphones and tablets. The new medium is far cheaper than Saturday morning TV commercials and could prove as effective. The mobile games demonstrate how new technology is changing U.S. commerce, drawing tighter bonds between marketers and young consumers.

Makers of snacks, sweet drinks and candy have long been under government and public pressure to limit advertising to minors on TV and the Web. They are now finding the unregulated medium of mobile devices an effective substitute to trigger demand and cinch brand loyalty.

Young children can master the largely intuitive touch screens well before they read. A recent survey by research firm NPD Group found that 37% of 4- and 5-year-old Americans were using such mobile devices as a smartphone, tablet or iPod Touch, compared with less than a quarter of children that age who used a laptop computer. The food-industry games generally have rudimentary graphics and objectives simple enough for small children to understand. They have raised debate over who should be responsible for their impact on children—parents or the government.

No federal regulations govern how advertising is presented to children on the Internet. Some consumer advocates argue rules are needed, given that the Federal Communications Commission already regulates TV advertising directed at children.

We should be careful about how these adds impact these young consumers, Marketers should be wary.