Another guilty plead in Quebec

The Quebec Coalition on Weight-Related Problems again sends us great news about a guilty plead for illegal marketing to children:

"For the third time since the beginning of the year, the Quebec Coalition on Weight-Related Problems (Weight Coalition) is once more reacting to a new guilty plea recorded with regard to the prohibition to create advertising that targets children. This time, it is P2P Promotion Publicité, the advertiser which orchestrated the promotional campaign for Saputo’s Igor muffins in Quebec childcare centres in 2007, that is admitting its mistakes.

"This admission of guilt by the advertising agency is leading the way and shows other agencies they are also targeted by the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) which prohibits the creation of commercial advertising to young people. We hope this plea will continue to raise awareness within the advertising industry, regarding the impact it has on children’s behaviors as consumers", declares the Coalition’s Manager, Suzie Pellerin.

It is important to remember that the World Health Organization recognizes junk food advertising as a potential factor of the obesity epidemic among young people and asks advertisers to play a major role by maintaining responsible marketing practices, especially when it comes to children.

Following the lawsuit brought by the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC), an agreement was signed today in the Montreal judicial district, therefore ending the legal proceedings. P2P is pleading guilty to eight counts of illegal children’s advertising against it, to the amount of $16,000 in fines.

"In Quebec, we are lucky to have CPA provisions which protect children by prohibiting commercial advertising aimed at them. These provisions are quoted around the world, but the Office de la protection du consommateur does not have the required human and financial resources to play the monitoring role it was entrusted with in 1980", Ms. Pellerin continues.

A reminder of the facts
On June 29, 2007, the OPC notified P2P Promotion Publicité with a violation report for a total of 15 counts and potential fines to the amount of $30,000 for the distribution, through certain childcare centres, of promotional bags branded with Saputo Groupe Boulangerie’s Igor muffins.
These bags contained Igor muffins, a $1.00 discount coupon to buy them, a booklet on the muffin’s nutritional value, an Igor coloring book, an invitation to visit the website www.igoretmoi.com and a sheet of Igor stickers. P2P was also accused of preparing that website and using it to advertise the muffin, as well as preparing a promotional poster, the booklet inserted in the promotional bags, a song and a CD related to the product, all of which was a violation of the CPA’s provisions prohibiting commercial advertising that targets children under 13.

Other recorded pleas of guilt
In January 2009, Saputo also admitted it was guilty of distributing advertising material to promote Igor muffins among children, in Quebec childcare centres. And, in February 2009, it is General Mills that admitted it was guilty of illegal advertising of its sweet Lucky Charms cereal through various games for children presented online.
The Weight Coalition greatly values the denunciation of illegal practices with regard to junk food advertising aimed at children.
Other current proceedings: Burger King and McDonald’s are also being sued by the OPC for illegal advertising targeting young people. The dates for these trials will be set shortly.