Answer Happy

How many of you are really craving a Pepsi now? Advergaming may appear like harmless fun, but with its intention to attract, engage and keep customers it becomes a powerful tool when promoting unhealthy high caloric foods to children and adolescents who are spending an average of 10hrs 45mins per day in front of a computer or TV screen The main factors responsible for the drastic increase of childhood Obesity include increased intake of high calorie/fat/salt-laden foods, increased computer screen time, and a decrease in physical activity Advergaming is of great concern as it is a popular method of digital advertising utilizing a videogame developed around a product (in this case a low quality food item) that then immerses the player into the advertisement by having them directly interacting with the product while enjoying one of their favorite past times of video games. Young children are particularly vulnerable to advergaming as they are not capable of discoming misleading food claims and gaming fun from accurate information. Many companies are using advergaming as a way to expose gamers of all ages not just to short 30 second advertisements but to engage them for minutes to hours providing ample time to gain brand awareness and sell a product. If companies are allowed to continue direct marking via advergaming of unhealthy products such as sugar-sweetened beverages proven to be correlated with increased weight gain in children, the fight to prevent and reduce childhood obesity becomes even more difficult. Is this exploitation of our children or just a "natural consequence of a Capitalistic food supply?" References