Preventing ethical problems when marketing to minors

Proposes a general rationale for acting cautiously when marketing to children, and indicates some possibly inappropriate managerial attitudes: for instance that minors are basically small adults, that parents rather than companies should protect children in the marketplace, that all marketing is directed at adults, that certain practice are acceptable because they were done in the past, that managers were once children, and that the company’s practices must be acceptable if they are legal. Suggests ways that companies can remedy this: appoint an ethics officer and take ethics training seriously, avoid dubious products and marketing that support premature maturation and the end of childhood, accept an “in loco parentis” role with regard to children, and remain alert to new threats.