MEDIA RELEASE
Under embargo until 11am 17 November 2009
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For further information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Caitlin Syrett on 0423 791 194, 03 9667 1759 or caitlins@parentsjury.org.au
The Parents Jury is supported by:
McDonald’s takes out ‘Shame’ hat trick in food marketing awards
Australian parents have voted McDonald’s sponsorship of an online maths tutorial as one of the
year’s most irresponsible marketing promotions, dubbing it the winner of the Techno Hack
category in the annual children’s food marketing Fame & Shame Awards.
Children’s health advocacy group The Parents Jury today announced winners of four ‘Shame’
categories for unhealthy food and drink marketing to children, and one Parents’ Choice ‘Fame’
award for a campaign that promotes healthy lifestyles to children.
McDonald’s took out an awards hat trick, also winning the Jury’s Bad Sport category for its
association with state Little Athletics associations, and the Pester Power award for its animated
Happy Meal TV ads, which use animations and gimmicks to appeal to children.
Parents found Nutri-Grain advertisements to be the most unbalanced of the year, awarding
Kellogg’s the winner of the Smoke & Mirrors category for encouraging parents to buy the Iron Man
Food for their “growing boys" who need energy and protein, despite the cereal comprising almost
one third sugar.
The Parents Jury manager Karen Sims says the Fame & Shame Awards give Australian parents
a public voice in the fight against unhealthy food and drink promotions which directly target
children in a potentially misleading or irresponsible manner, which can undermine parents’
influence.
“The Nutri-Grain campaign is a perfect example of how sneaky advertisers take advantage of
well-meaning parents who want to make healthy purchases for their children, by telling them to
buy this sugary cereal to boost their sons’ physical performance,” Karen said.
“McDonald’s winning the Techno Hack award just goes to show that despite some minor self-
imposed restrictions on TV advertising, the big food companies will always find new ways to
infiltrate the home and advertise their products to vulnerable children who are a lucrative market,”
Karen said.
The Socceroos were honoured with the Parents’ Choice award for promoting healthy eating to
children in 2009 in Sanitarium’s “I’m a Weet Bix kid” TV advertisements and Batlow Apples’ ‘Live
Active! Live Healthy! Live Socceroos!’ meet and greet competition. It is the second time that the
Socceroos and Weet Bix have jointly won the award.
“Parents will always champion those celebrities and athletes who use their profiles to promote
healthy lifestyles to children without chasing the corporate dollar. It’s just disappointing that we
don’t see this more often,” said Jacqi Deighan, a founding member of The Parents Jury.
The Parents Jury supports a ban on all unhealthy food and drink advertisements on television up
until 9pm daily, when large numbers of children are watching television. The Parents Jury also
supports government restrictions on other unhealthy food marketing aimed at children, including
internet and email marketing, in-store and on-pack promotions that target children using cartoon
and celebrity endorsement, giveaways and competitions.
MEDIA RELEASE
Under embargo until 11am 17 November 2009
Page 2 of 2
For further information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Caitlin Syrett on 0423 791 194, 03 9667 1759 or caitlins@parentsjury.org.au
The Parents Jury is supported by:
The Parents Jury
The Parents Jury is a free online forum of over 4,200 parents who collectively advocate for the
improvement of children's food and physical activity environments in Australia. The Parents Jury
is supported by Cancer Council Australia, Diabetes Australia Vic and QLD, the Australian and
New Zealand Obesity Society, VicHealth and YMCA Victoria.
Fame & Shame Awards
The Fame & Shame Awards give Australian parents the chance to vote on the best and worst food
children’s food marketing campaigns of the year.
Parents were asked to nominate campaigns in four ‘Shame’ categories and one Parents’ Choice
‘Fame’ category throughout 2009.
Members were then invited to vote on the short listed nominations in each category during
October.
2009 winners:
The Shame Award for Pester Power
McDonald’s Happy Meal “A Box of Play” TV ads – A series of TV ads that describe Happy
Meals as ‘a box of play’ and feature toys and animations to appeal to children, with only minimal
attention to the actual food and drink contents.
The Shame Award for Smoke & Mirrors
Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain – A TV and radio campaign claiming that the protein content of Nutri-Grain
(as part of a balanced diet) “has what it takes to help build your son into an Iron Man” and “helps
fuel growing boys”.
The Shame Award for the Bad Sport
McDonald’s and Little Athletics Australia – All Little Athletics state associations are sponsored
by McDonald's. The partnership can include branded outfits, McDonald’s’ achievement awards,
giveaways and special promotions.
The Shame Award for the Techno Hack
Maths Online, sponsored by McDonald’s – A free online mathematics tutorial program for
Australian secondary schools students, and based on Australian state curricula. The site is
promoted by McDonald’s through television and print advertisements and features their logo on the
home page.
The Fame Award for Parents' Choice
The Socceroos, for their association in 2009 with Sanitarium Weet Bix and Batlow Apples - The
latest Weet Bix ad features the Socceroos with Tim Cahill putting his winning goal down to being a
“Weet Bix kid”. Batlow Apples offered children the chance to meet the Socceroos and attend a
training session in the Batlow Apples ‘Live Active! Live Healthy! Live Socceroos!’ competition.
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