by Kenneth Andrews

Created on: June 08, 2009   Last Updated: June 09, 2009

Child-centred marketing for fast food has several negative effects, some more obvious than others. The first point we must note, however, is that child-centred marketing is used by fast food chains for one simple reason - it is incredibly effective for shifting a large quantity of fast food. What do we mean by child-centred marketing? Everything from the promotions which offer free plastic toys (generally linked in with the latest TV or cinema fad, whether that's Pokemon or the Dark Knight) with children's meals to the advertising of restaurant venues as the ideal choice for a children's birthday parties.

The most immediate and irritating negative effect of child-centred marketing is 'pester power'. The children see the advertising, or find out that they can get a free plastic Kraaxoid with their meal and suddenly parents' lives are made a living hell until they drag themselves out to the nearest restaurant. The chain targets its marketing towards a single individual, and they get a whole family group as a result. Cunning, but also deeply irritating for the parents involved, many of whom will be healthy professionals who would never visit such a restaurant in normal circumstances.

The pester power element becomes even more alarming when, in addition to the whole family unit, you introduce the child's party facility. Having persuaded the parents that the local burger bar is the ideal location for little Tom's seventh birthday, a whole swathe of other children are then invited, many of whom might never have been otherwise introduced to this very dodgy food at such an early age!

More worrying though, as a result of child-centred marketing, children become exposed to all this nasty mass-produced, processed fatty food at an essential stage in their development where they should be eating fresh vegetables and sunshine. This kind of fast food diet at an early age can cause obesity in the short term and also store up health and nutritional problems for later life, possibly including heart disease and diabetes.

Worse still is the fact that, having been attracted in to fast food restaurants at a young age, children form the habit of eating at those places at an impressionable age, making it all the more likely that they will continue to eat rubbish processed food when they grow up. If haute cuisine French restaurants began child-centred marketing campaigns, maybe this would not be so much of a problem. But apart from the children themselves, the biggest losers from

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