• by Joe Mandese , July 29, 2021

A day after Facebook tamped down on marketers using behaviorally targeted ads aimed at minors, the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the BBB National Programs issued a revision of its children’s advertising guidelines to address the “growth in online platforms and new immersive forms of child-directed interactive media during the past decade."

The revisions include a new section dedicated to in-app and in-game advertising and purchases, with the goal to move beyond “television-centric to address and reflect today’s digital advertising environment.”

Other revisions include a new guideline requiring ads not “portray or encourage negative social stereotyping, prejudice or discrimination, including the Federal Trade Commission’s updated guidance on endorsements and influencer marketing, and raise the threshold age from 12 to 13 for the application of all its guidelines.

“Central to these new revisions are the changes taking into account today’s digital environment,” CARU Vice President Mamie Kresses explained in a statement announcing them. “In addition, recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion in ad creative, the revised CARU Advertising Guidelines hold advertisers accountable for negative social stereotyping, prejudice, or discrimination.”