Freebies for kids a hit in US fast food joints
02 Nov 2015
A new study has found that two of the most popular fast food chains in the United States are using advertising on children's channels to lure kids with toys and special menus; and the advertising campaigns have a direct impact on the number of times a family visits a fast food restaurant as kids insist parents to take them there.
Fast food chains often advertise their special menu for kids and free toys on channels frequently watched by kids – and the strategy has proved successful.
The study included 100 children age between 3 and 7 years. The research team asked the parents about the frequency of their child watching kids' TV channels. They were also asked about the number of times their kids urge them to go to a fast food restaurant.
The research team found that 80 per cent of the advertisements targeting kids were telecast on four major channels specialising in TV programming for kids.
The research project was led by Dr Jennifer A Emond, from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. The study report said, ''Fast food companies advertise children's meals on TV with ads that feature toy premiums, and it has been suggested that the use of these toy premiums may prompt children to request eating at fast food restaurants.''
Fifty-four per cent of the kids urged their parents to take them to either of the two most popular fast-food chains. In 54 per cent of families, 37 per cent of parents agreed to child's demand to go to a fast food restaurant, while 29 per cent of the kids collected free toys at fast food restaurants and 83 per cent of the children surveyed by the research team asked their parents to go to the fast food joint again.
The study group found, ''The more children watched television channels that aired ads for children's fast food meals, the more frequently their families visited those fast food restaurants.''Clearly, the marketing campaign yields positive results for fast food companies.
The research will be published in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.