Australian Consumer Law and Children's Advertising: A Case Study

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Case study
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Question 1...................................................................................................................................................4
Question 2...................................................................................................................................................5
Question 3...................................................................................................................................................6
Question 4...................................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References:..................................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
In today's world, it is seen that faulty advertising has led to being the main cause of pester power
is on the rise. This has caused many problems to occur in Australian society due to which the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a notice on this behalf.
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Question 1
Pester Power is known as the factor in which children are influenced by advertisements which
want them to purchase a specific product. Marketers often think that targeting children is one of
the most prominent ways that they can sell their product. This is done because it is known that
kids have their way to influence parents into buying products that will not be any need for them.
This is done through misleading advertisements. When such type of unethical promotion is done
then the customer often ends up making hasty decisions. These decisions are also uninformed
that often lead to waste of money. This poor decision will not have any beneficial factor for the
customer. Also, it can be seen that due to these misleading advertisements there can be health
hazards involved which may not be shown during the advertisement itself. This can be a serious
problem for the customers (Barve et. al. 2015).
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Question 2
The ACCC has come up with certain rules and regulations that show how a consumer can be
helped. The Australian Consumer Law has set out rights for the customer so that they can
achieve some sort of compensation for the wrong that has been done to them:
 If products come with a guarantee then the product should abide by such a contract.
 The other right is that a customer can cancel their services at any point.
 Compensation should be paid on damaged goods
For laws on relating to advertising for children the Australian Code of National Advertisers
(AANA), has set up a policy that should be followed by organisations. It is seen that by this code
the organisation must ensure that advertisements have a social responsibility when shown to
children. Code of ethics is involved in which all advertisements have to show truthfulness.
Melanie was justified in the way she felt about the doll because it was not up to her expectation.
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Question 3
The voluntary code set out by the ACCC which make sure to set a benchmark in advertising that
has to be followed by every organisation. The main motive of this code is to see that the
consumer protection is increased. When a voluntary code is developed it takes into account the
competitive market so that no harm is caused to the customers. it promotes anti competition
among them.
The AANA has certain rules that children do not receive false advertising by:
 The advertisement should not misinform the children
 Must be accurate with all information like what the features are
 Must show that parental authority is necessary
 Not promote unhealthy lifestyle (ACCC, 2019)
Also, all information of how the competition is going to be done must be shown how is going to
happen to AANA.
Benefits for the doll company:
 Better understanding with customers
 Higher goodwill and rise in consumer base
 The regulatory burden is lowered
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Question 4
The ethical theory is one of the theories that can help in seeing that there should be some
measures taken when advertising to children is done. The Deontology part of the theory is that
proper obligations should be looked at when making decisions and the utilitarianism part shows
that consequences of the action should be also seen. So while making advertisements to children
it should be seen that proper information is portrayed so that children are not led into a false
sense. This is mentioned by AANA code for advertising which states that when communication
is done to children it must be seen that unhealthy or unhygienic product is being displayed. This
will show that advertisement to children should be done is a proper and ethical way. Also, social
values should be kept in mind so that no unnatural images are portrayed to the children which
may cause harm to them. Their advertisement must also not show any type of discrimination
because children would then follow that type of mindset throughout their life (AANA, 2019).
The theory also states that there should be rights that will help protect the consumer so that no
harm of any kind is caused. AANA makes sure that there is a high level of social responsibility
which is to be maintained. It also states that proper information should be given to the parents
about the product which the children to purchase. All of the information should be justified so
that nothing is thought as deceiving or misleading. So parental authority is a must in which is
will be seen that people who buy the product are not superior to the ones that do not. This is
considered to be more of the virtue part of the ethical theory (Learning Theories, 2019).
There are children in the world who are seeing advertisements for various junk foods which
often leaves them to be obese. There are some countries where it is believed that children when
reaching the age to 8 years will become obese. This has caused a problem for parents who have
requested that such advertisements be banned or rethought. The ethical theory comes into play
here as this is going against the ethics of both the children and parents (The Telegraph, 2019).
AANA has made strict restrictions that there must be no false statements made by which the
minds of the children are misguided. If any side effects can lead to harm for the children then
they must be shown to both the children and parents.
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It can be seen that advertisements for children should be done but in an ethical way so that their
future is not put into jeopardy. The parents should not feel like they have been cheated for their
money.
Conclusion
From all of this, it can be concluded that there should be proper rules and regulations which
should be followed so that no misguiding information is portrayed. Children are still at a young
stage and their minds are under development and the organisations should not take advantage of
them.
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References:
1. AANA. (2019). CODE FOR ADVERTISING & MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
TO CHILDREN. [Online] AANA. Available at:
http://www.aana.com.au/content/uploads/2014/05/AANA-Code-For-Marketing-
Advertising-Communications-To-Children. [Accessed on: 29 July 2019]
2. ACCC. (2019). Voluntary codes. [Online]. ACCC. Available at:
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/industry-codes/voluntary-codes [Accessed on: 29 July
2019]
3. Barve, G., Sood, A., Nithya, S., & Virmani, T. (2015). Effects of Advertising on Youth
(Age Group of 13–19 Years Age). Mass Communication & Journalism, 5(5), 2-9.
4. Learning Theories. (2019). Ethical Theories and Frameworks. [Online]. Learning
Theories. Available at: https://www.learning-theories.com/ethical-theories-and-
frameworks.html [Accessed on: 29 July 2019]
5. Martino, F. P., Miller, P. G., Coomber, K., Hancock, L., & Kypri, K. (2017). Analysis of
alcohol industry submissions against marketing regulation. PLoS One, 12(1), e0170366.
6. The Telegraph. (2019). Children face growing deluge of junk food ads online, public
health experts warn. [Online] The Telegraph. Available at:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/children-face-growing-
deluge-junk-food-ads-online-public-health/ [Accessed on: 29 July 2019]
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