from The National Advertising Review Council – NARC
When it comes to kids, CARU – the Children’s Advertising Review Unit, isn’t sleeping!
CARU Parent’s Online Complaint Form
Read the CARU Advertising Guidelines for Children and Television, Broadcast and Online
January, 2011 – CARU monitors websites for Children’s Advertising. This means for content and for privacy. In January, CARU recommended that the video game Goosebumps do a better job of protectding the privacy of child visitors. Child visotors to the site are given a chance to try “Terrorbomb”, “Mad Labs” and “Vampire Village” if they sign up on Register Your Game. When they get to Register Your Game, they are instructed to be 13. CARU recommends that you sign in with your birthday and then the site’s software should direct the player (like the tobacco and alcohol industry).
January 2011 – CARU recommends that Sony change their ad for Sony’s Playstation EyePet so that the child would understand that they need the equipment to play the game and to change the colors against the added equipment to make the equipment stand out more. Sony complied.
January 2011 – CARU recommended that Dippin’Dots change their advertisement. The commercial showed packages of all of the necessary items to make Dippin’ Dots and underneath in small print: Flavor Packs Sold Seperately. CARU questionsed wether the site should ask for age.
December 2010 – CARU finds that Twitter DOES NOT target children under the age of 13.
December 2010 – CARU recommends taht the maker of Dum Dum pops modify the advertisement on the website as to not cause blurring. CARU’s guidelines on the blurring of advertising and editorial content state in part that “if an advertiser integrates an advertisement into the content of a game or activity, then the advertiser should make clear, in a manner that will be easily understood by the intended audience, that it is an advertisement.” Dum Dum pops complied.
December 2009 – CARU asked Delmonte to change their ad for Fruit Chillers from saying, “One pound of fruit in every carton” to “One pound of friuit in every pack.” Delmonte complied.