What is CARU Guidelines

As Internet marketing has evolved, customized online games created to promote specific brands or products have been embraced by food marketers. At the same time that these advergames, a hybrid of entertainment and advertising, have emerged, childhood obesity in the United States has reached what some consider epidemic proportions. Advertising to children is frequently implicated as contributing to children’s poor dietary choices, and ultimately to childhood obesity and its attendant medical risks. In this chapter, we describe the nature of advergames, consider their effectiveness as teaching tools and advertisements, and suggest public policy issues related to the continued use of advergames to promote non-nutritious foods to children.