Kellogg’s secret bid to target children

CEREALS giant Kellogg’s is exploiting sophisticated techniques to market to children without their parents’ knowledge, the Guardian newspaper reported yesterday.

The company targeted children by bypassing parents and deploying "viral marketing" and "underground communication".

A submission by an advertising agency for an "effectiveness award" in 2002 explained how its campaign for Kellogg's Real Fruit Winders "entered the world of kids in a way never done before", and managed to "not let mum in on the act". Sugars make up over a third of the product, which won a "Tooth Rot" award in 2002.