advertising matters 4.5.18

Helping kids get Media Smart

An event on Tuesday at Portcullis House in Westminster addressed the hugely important issues of media literacy and boys’ body image and where the advertising industry can play its part – bringing the issue right to the heart of parliament and policy making.

The event was organised by Media Smart, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes media literacy and creates free educational materials for schools and youth organisations, teachers, parents and guardians. Boys’ body image is among several areas where Media Smart is focusing, in addition to, for example, female body image, and digital & social media and where they meet advertising. The event was hosted by Andrew Bowie MP, with an audience that included MPs, NGOs, charities, the advertising industry, and those most affected by this issue – young people themselves.

Andrew emphasised that the importance of media literacy to young men and women cannot be overestimated, especially in today’s complex digital world. This was followed by a screening of the Boys’ Biggest Conversation. It was created in collaboration with First News and is part of a wider Media Smart campaign, supported by the NSPCC and Childline, to encourage young men to talk about body image and the effect it has on their mental wellbeing.

The film sparked a thought-provoking panel session that included Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield OBE, Nicolette Smallshaw (Head of Education, First News), Grania Hyde-Smith (National Services Communications Manager, NSPCC), and Craig Donahy (Head of Community & Insight, SuperAwesome & Editor-in-Chief, Popjam).

The Children’s Commissioner said digital and emotional literacy is a “missing link in young people’s education” and that it should be a core part of the curriculum. Read more about Media Smart and the event in this article in The Drum by Mark Lund OBE (UK Group CEO of McCann Worldgroup and Chairman of Media Smart) or contact Director of Media Smart Rachel Barber-Mack for further information.

Food & drink in the spotlight

The House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee began taking oral evidence this week as part of their inquiry into childhood obesity. Our CEO Stephen Woodford has been called to give evidence to the Committee on Tuesday 8 May. This follows the appearance at the Committee earlier this week by Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

A letter from Stephen appeared in yesterday’s Evening Standard (scroll down in link to view letter), where he reiterated that the UK has among the toughest restrictions on food advertising in the world and that strict rules apply to HFSS advertisements across all media, whether on TV, online, in the street or on public transport.

These regulations have been very effective in reducing children’s exposure to HFSS advertising since their introduction a decade ago, he added.

AAccelerating for Scotland

Some of the brightest and best minds in Scottish advertising came together on Tuesday to launch AAccelerate for Growth, Scotland. Our CEO Stephen Woodford and Project Director Francesca Woodhouse were also present to help get the initiative underway.

The project in Scotland is gathering pace with recruitment criteria defined and company selection underway. The group will liaise fortnightly to ensure a good outcome for Scotland focused on increased sales, productivity and export levels as the project scales.

We were also pleased to meet the minister for business, innovation and energy, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, to inform him about AAccelerate, which has been warmly received. You can read more about the event in this column from John McLellan, Director of the Scottish Newspaper Society, in The Scotsman.

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