Patrick Bruha

Patrick Bruha

Staff Writer
The Brazil Business

Updated

Advertising Regulations For Children And Adolescents In Brazil

Patrick Bruha

Patrick Bruha

Staff Writer
The Brazil Business

Updated

Brazilians spend a lot of time watching TV. As children and adolescents are more susceptible to the influences of advertising, several rules regulate this activity. In this article, we will learn more about advertising regulations for children and adolescents in Brazil.

Advertising in Brazil is a large, fast-growing market. Despite the new challenges brought by the development of digital media and the current difficulties seen in some other countries, this industry keeps expanding.

This can be proven with numbers. Zenith Optimedia estimates that the Brazilian advertising market will be the 5th largest in the world by 2015, overtaking the United Kingdom. In 2013, BRL 32,2 billion was invested in advertising in Brazil, an increase of almost 7% in comparison to the previous year.

The world’s largest advertising agencies are all established in Brazil, and they are all inserted in a dynamic market, that deals with new platforms, new products and of course, new rules.

Regulations for advertising in Brazil are always changing, either by laws decreed by governmental spheres or by the entities that are responsible for regulating this industry in the country.

Who regulates it

The main entity responsible for the regulation of advertising in Brazil is a non-governmental organization known as Conselho Nacional de Autorregulamentação Publicitária, CONAR or National Council of Self-Regulation Advertising.

CONAR’s main function is to supervise the principal ethics in the advertising industry. They have a board of professionals that receive any complaints made by customers, companies, organizations or authorities that might have been offended, attacked or misled by an advertisement or promotional action.

Based on such complaints, CONAR’s board decides if the advert being analyzed is somehow offensive or if it breaches the Brazilian advertising industry ethics code. Consequences can vary from the edit of an advertisement to its complete removal, and even fines, in some cases.

Brazil’s first advertising ethics code was published in 1977, two years before the foundation of CONAR. The entity is composed of members from various sectors related to this industry, such as advertisers, agencies and even specialized press vehicles.

Advertising limitations for Children and Adolescents

First of all, it is important to mention that, according to the Children and Adolescent Statute, children are considered to be any person younger than 12 years old and adolescents to be any person between 12 and 18 years old.

CONAR regulations state that advertising must assist parents, teachers and the community to form responsible citizens and conscious consumers. Due to this, no advertising can appeal directly to children and adolescents.

Advertising towards children and adolescents is required to be especially careful about safety and good manners, and may not:

  • Demerit positive social values such as friendship, politeness, honesty, justice, generosity and respect to all people, animals and towards the environment
  • Cause any kind of discrimination, in particular to those who are not consumers of the product being advertised
  • Associate children or adolescents to situations incompatible with their age group, whether these situations are illegal, dangerous or socially unacceptable
  • Impose the idea that consumption of a product will provide superiority or inferiority
  • Cause embarrassment to parents or guardians or harass third parties, in order to stimulate consumption
  • Employ children or adolescents as a means to disclose direct appeal, recommendation or suggestion of use or consumption. Despite this, their participation is admitted in the case of product or service demonstration
  • Format the advertising as a journal, in order to avoid that the advertisement is mistaken as actual news
  • Claim that the advertised product contains peculiar characteristics that, in fact, are found in other similar products
  • Use of psychological pressure or violent situations in the advertisement that may cause fear

Also, if the products are intended to be consumed by children and adolescents, their advertising must:

  • Seek to contribute to the development of positive relations between children and parents, students and teachers and other relationships involving children or adolescents
  • Take into account the dignity, naivety, credulity, inexperience and the sense of loyalty of children and adolescents
  • Pay special attention to the psychological characteristics of children and adolescents, assuming they have reduced capacity of judgement
  • Avoid any psychological distortions in advertising models and target audience
  • Not encourage socially reprehensible behavior

CONAR’s regulations condemns the action of direct, indirect merchandising or advertising that employs children, uses elements of the children’s universe, or other tricks with the deliberate purpose of capturing the attention of this audience, whatever the media vehicle used.

In order to evaluate conformity of indirect advertising or merchandising to the provisions stated in CONAR’s regulations, the following criteria will be taken into consideration:

  • The target audience must be composed of adults
  • The product or service must not be advertised for its consumption by children
  • Language, images, sounds and other similar tools contained in the advertising or merchandising must not have the purpose to arouse the curiosity or attention of children

Children and adolescents should not appear as advertising models in any advertisement which promotes the consumption of any goods and services improper to their age group. This includes firearms, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, fireworks and lotteries, as well as all other products subject to legal restriction.

Fines for disrespecting such measures can range from BRL 50.000 to BRL 6 million. Habib’s, for example, received a fine of BRL 2,5 million in 2012 for an advert that was considered abusive since it tried to create a direct association between Habib’s meals and children toys that were bundled to the kid meals.