Another business tries to head off government intervention by making a meaningless gesture:
The company that makes chocolate bars such as Mars and Snickers, is to stop targeting its advertising at under-12s.
Masterfoods will stop advertising in magazines and television programmes intended for children under the age of 12 by the end of the year.
How will this work exactly? Parents will snatch their 11-year-olds from in front of the TV shows their 12-year-olds are watching? The 12-year-olds will keep their magazines out of the hands of their 11-year-old siblings? What is the difference between 11- and 12-year-olds anyway? As silly as this is, it will seem completely sensible and rational compared with the government regulations it is intended to head off.
