Advertising Education Forum

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AEF was set up by the World Federation of Advertisers.[1] The AEF claims that it is 'academically neutral' on its own website. It is in fact a front group for the Advertising and Food industries, which, unsurprisingly, fund it. The World Federation of Advertisers describes itself as an organisation that 'champions and defends marketers’ interests on key issues at both a global and EU level'. This aim is pursued in relation to children ad advertising by the following method:'WFA leads a global coalition of the advertising industry to identify, promote and replicate good practice and champion socially responsible initiatives, which go beyond compliance with industry standards.' The AEF is listed as one project which helps to accomplish that aim.[2]

On its own website the AEF makes no mention of the leading role of the WFA. Instead it claims:

The Advertising Education Forum (AEF) is a non-profit, academically neutral organisation that offers a comprehensive database of information on advertising and children and related issues. AEF provides open and free access to academic and scientific research on advertising and children and serves as a centre for information on the issue. AEF also provides information on advertising regulation in Europe.[3]

The AEF in fact operates to undermine independent research on the effects of advertising on children and works in consort with other food and ad industry lobby groups. For example the Food Advertising Unit another front group run by the industry is a member and Mediasmart, another food/ad industry front group was also run from the offices of the Global Consulting Group the former PR agency of the AEF, and both are now clients of APCO Worldwide.

As with many other front groups the AEF has established an 'academic' panel to attempt to give itself legitimacy:

The AEF Academic Network is a global network of experts on the areas of children and advertising, industry self-regulation and childhood obesity. It was established in 2004 to support AEF objective of facilitating an informed debate on the issue of advertising to children. It represents the first structured organisation of its type, on these subjects, in the world. The AAN is a development of the AEF Academic Advisory Board (AAB) that was established in April 2000, and consisted of four members representing different areas of academic and scientific expertise in Europe.[4]

The AAB is said by the AEF to have published three analyses of studies relating to advertising and children.

  • AAB Opinion on Gunilla Jarlbro's report on Children and Television Advertising: the players, the arguments and the research, 1994-2000.
  • AAB Opinion on the Sustain study TV Dinners: What's being served up by the advertisers?
  • AAB Opinion on the AEF study of Parental Perceptions of the Influences in Their Children's Lives.[5]

The first study conducted in 2000 AEF was about the influence of advertising on children, surveying 5,000 parents in 15 EU countries. According to this study more than 86% of parents did not consider advertising as "playing an important role in their children's lives", apparently suggesting that that it is rather harmless, a view very much in step with the policy aims ofthe industry to avoid regulation.[6]

Members

As disclosed on the AEF website

PR/Lobbying Firms

Staff

Website and contact

  • Langham House,

1b Portland Place London W1B 1PN United Kingdom

AEF Academic Network

^ indicates the original four AAB members[7]


Notes

  1. ↑ ref needed
  2. ↑ WFA Advocacy Issues, accessed 3 January 2009
  3. ↑ Advertising Education Forum homepage, accessed 1 August 2007.
  4. ↑ Advertising Education Forum AEF Academic Network (AAN), accessed 1 August 2007.
  5. ↑ Advertising Education Forum AEF Academic Network (AAN), accessed 1 August 2007.
  6. ↑ Now here are the hard facts, Marketing Week May 30 2000 (check year?)
  7. ↑ Advertising Education Forum AEF Academic Network (AAN), accessed 1 August 2007.
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