Compliance reporting
IFBA is committed to transparency and accountability and to reporting on members’ compliance with the pledge programmes and evaluating the impact of such programmes.
Global, regional and national reports
The IFBA Global Policy on Marketing Communications to Children
In 2022, IFBA commissioned Ebiquity to monitor IFBA members’ compliance with IFBA’s new Global Responsible Marketing Policy which came into effect on 1 January 2022. Ebiquity measured compliance for television and digital advertising in a globally representative sample of markets. For television, Ebiquity assessed members’ advertisements during Q1 2022 in Colombia, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa; and for digital, Ebiquity assessed impressions during April 2022 in Australia, Indonesia, Germany, Mexico and Vietnam. Consistent with prior years, IFBA members continued to demonstrate a high rate of compliance:
- 91.3% for TV (1,888,129 spots)
- 99.82% for digital (2,268,046,317 impressions)
In addition, Nielsen was commissioned to measure children’s online exposure to advertisements for foods and beverages high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) (the Digital Avatar Project). The Nielsen study conducted over a 21-day period in October 2021, in Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa and Spain concluded that on average only 1.45% of online ads served to children under 12 years of age were for HFSS products. [link to the Full report] ATTACHED
The EU Pledge
In 2021, EU Pledge members commissioned independent third parties to monitor implementation of the EU Pledge commitments: Ebiquity reviewed members’ compliance relating to food and beverage advertising on TV across six sample markets: Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain; and EASA (the European Advertising Standards Alliance) reviewed members’ compliance on brand websites, social media pages and company-recognized influencer profiles in eight sample markets – France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden. The EASA monitoring programme was externally reviewed by Professors Liselot Hudders and Dieneke Van de Sompel from Ghent University (Belgium). This is the thirteenth annual monitoring report of the EU Pledge and the record of compliance is positive and consistent with previous years. In 2021:
- 98.84% for TV (1,351,480 spots)
- 94.49% for brand websites (57)
- 96.53% for brand social media profiles (144)
- 100% for influencer profiles (97)
In 2021, the EU Pledge commitment was enhanced in a manner substantially similar to IFBA’s new Global Responsible Marketing Policy and came into force on 30 June 2022. EU Pledge members also updated the EU Pledge nutrition criteria by further restricting which products are eligible to be marketed to children and adding a new plant-based product category.
The Union of European Soft Drink Associations (UNESDA)
In 2012/2013, UNESDA appointed the independent monitoring company and broadcast expert, Ebiquity, to audit compliance with its commitments on marketing to children to the European Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. The five largest EU markets (representing approximately 65% of the EU population) were monitored: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Ebiquity found UNESDA members were:
- 99.35% compliant in TV advertising (consistent with the independent audits of 2006 and 2010 which each recorded compliance rates of 99%)
- 100% compliant in print media (consistent with the 100% compliance level in 2010 and the 99.72% compliance level in 2006)
- 100% compliant in online media (consistent with the 100% compliance level achieved in 2006 and 2010)
- 100% compliant in the digisphere; and
- 95.11% compliant on company-owned websites
The Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative (RCMI) and Quick Service Restaurant Initiative for Responsible Advertising and Marketing to Children (QSRI)
The Australian Food and Grocery Council’s report for 2016 involves two monitoring components: an external audit and complaint adjudications by the Advertising Standards Board (ASB). More than 145,000 hours of television viewing time was examined. Overall, compliance with the RCMI and the QSRI core principles during their seventh year of operation was high, with a compliance rate of 99.25% across both initiatives. Results of the external audit found that the provision of bonus airtime by the television network, the late scheduling of movies and last minute programme changes continue to present compliance issues for signatories. The ASB considered nine cases (all resulting from a single complaint) regarding RCMI and QSRI during 2016 (less than 2% of all cases considered by the ASB). In one case relating to RCMI the ASB determined the ad was found to be in breach of the initiative; the other eight cases were dismissed.
The Canadian Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CAI)
The U.S. Children's Food and Beverage Marketing Initiative (CFBAI) and Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative
GCC Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing to Children Pledge
In 2019, IFBA members based in the GCC commissioned Ipsos UAE to review compliance with their commitment on food and beverage advertising in the UAE and Kindgdom of Saudi Arabia. The data examined continues the 2018 trend of 100% compliance in TV and print and shows an improvement for internet compliance from 99.7% :
- 100% compliance in TV advertising (413,481 spots reviewed over 113 channels)
- 100% compliance in print media (168 publications reviewd)
- 100% compliance on the internet (162 websites reviewed)
The Swiss Pledge
Media Focus, an independent market research company, has been monitoring Swiss pledge participants’ compliance since the pledge was launched in 2010. The Swiss Pledge companies have reduced TV advertising in the children’s environment by more than 55% since 2012. Media Focus reported good results in 2020:
- 99.2% compliance for TV advertising (13,986 spots reviewed)
- 100% compliance in print media (32 pubications marketed in Switzerland reviewed)
- 96.3% compliance on brand websites (27 domains were reviewed)
- 93.1% compliance in social media (58 social media channels reviewed, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter)