Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ADVERTISING NEWS: FTC seeks public comments on its Admongo children’s advertising literary program, (Feb 26, 2015)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

The FTC is seeking public comments on its plan to conduct an evaluation of Admongo, the agency’s advertising literacy program for children ages 8 to 12. The evaluation will involve a randomized controlled trial of the Admongo online game, using a panel of students selected by a market research company. The research will be conducted in furtherance of the FTC’s mission to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive marketing.

According to an FTC Federal Register Notice, the Commission launched Admongo, a youth-directed, multi-media advertising literacy program, in April 2010. The Admongo program, which was distributed to educators in every U.S. public school, aims to help children from ages 8 to 12 become more discerning consumers of marketing information. The program is designed to teach students specific skills: (1) how to identify ads; (2) how to identify the ways advertisers target certain groups of consumers; (3) how to spot persuasive techniques commonly employed by ads; and (4) how to apply an understanding of advertising techniques to make smarter purchase decisions. The program includes an online game, school lesson plans, training videos for teachers, and sample ads that can be used at home and in the classroom.

The proposed evaluation is designed to assess the impact of the Admongo online game. The game is an interactive teaching tool in which players advance to higher levels by mastering progressively more sophisticated topics in advertising. The evaluation seeks to measure the effect of playing the Admongo game on a child’s level of advertising literacy, as measured by a test written by FTC staff.

Cost effectiveness data will enable FTC staff to evaluate both the program and the potential use of other similar programs in the future. The FTC is particularly interested in the effect of game play on the ability to interpret real ads (to differentiate explicit and implied claims, identify particular persuasive techniques, and understand why they were chosen), and the ways in which the game’s effect varies by age and other family and demographic characteristics, the Notice stated.

Public comments may be submitted until March 26, 2015. Written comments should be submitted to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580. Comments may also be submitted electronically.

News: Advertising FederalTradeCommissionNews