Because of their avid use of new media and their increased spending power, adolescents
have become primary targets of a new "Media and Marketing Ecosystem." Digital media
resonate particularly well with many of the fundamental developmental tasks of adolescence
by enabling instantaneous and constant contact with peers, providing opportunities
for self-expression, identity exploration, and social interaction, and facilitating
mobility and independence. Six key features of interactive media--ubiquitous connectivity,
personalization, peer-to-peer networking, engagement, immersion, and content creation--are
emblematic of the ways in which young people are both shaping and being shaped by
this new digital culture. The advertising industry, in many instances led by food
and beverage marketers, is purposefully exploiting the special relationship that teenagers
have with new media, with online marketing campaigns that create unprecedented intimacies
between adolescents and the brands and products that now literally surround them.
Major food and beverage companies, including Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Burger King, and
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), have incorporated these elements into their interactive
marketing strategies, posing particular risks to adolescents, who are not being addressed
in the current U.S. policy and self-regulatory regimens. However, recent and emerging
neuroscience and psychological research on adolescents suggests a need to revisit
the traditional approach to regulation of advertising. Despite the growth of interactive
marketing, academic research on the impact of digital advertising on children and
youth remains underdeveloped. Additional research and policy initiatives are needed
to address the growing health threat facing youth in the digital marketplace.