Child advertising under discussion – Public Consultation
The National Consumer Secretariat (SENACON), of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, started, on January 16, 2020, a public consultation on the draft of the new ordinance on advertising for children. The initial deadline for contributions (31 January 2020) was extended to 27 February 2020.
According to SENACON, the consultation enables “reconciling the constitutional mission of the Brazilian State to effectively protect children and adolescents, who are considered hyper vulnerable consumers“.
The proposed regulation, besides bringing a new concept of “advertising”, also provides examples of what cannot be broadcasted in advertisements, as well as guidelines to be observed by children’s product advertising and criteria to be used for the conformity assessment of advertisements.
In general terms, the text repeats several provisions of the Brazilian Self-Regulatory Code (CBAP) of the National Advertising Self-Regulation Council (CONAR), differing only on the following matters:
- associating children and adolescents to situations incompatible with their hypervulnerable condition (Art. 1, §1, II), brings up a sensitive question about the vulnerability associated with the infant public;
- places an obligation on advertisers and agencies to develop advertisements that are concerned with the “full development of personality” of the children and youth audience (Art. 1, §2, II); and
- creates a specific rule for the advertising of soft drinks (Art. 6).
Several associations are working together to contribute to the text, especially to better understand how its application will work in practice, since this can be a new barrier in children’s advertising, making it even more difficult for companies that want to promote their products for children and adolescents.
Among the debates of the associations is the discussion about the competence of SENACON to regulate the subject; the demonstration of the effectiveness of the National Advertising Self-Regulation Council (CONAR), which constantly updates its code – CBAP – and effectively condemns advertisements directed to children who present any non-conformity; besides the economic impacts resulting from such regulation; as well as the potential to inflate the Judiciary with demands promoted by different consumer protection entities.