Anne Bruce
Cadbury Trebor Bassett has mounted a robust defence of its £9m Get Active Free Sports Kit 4 Schools marketing campaign after it was attacked by consumer groups.
Andy Cosslett, regional president for Europe, Middle East and Africa confectionery at CTB parent Cadbury Schweppes, said groups like the Food Commission and the Consumers' Association had made an "absurd extrapolation" that Cadbury was encouraging children to guzzle chocolate.
He said the new 12-week promotion where on-pack tokens could be redeemed for sports equipment encouraged a more active lifestyle as children become more sedentary. Cadbury could have spent the money on television commercials, but wanted to continue its cause-related marketing activities, following its sponsorship of the Manchester Commonwealth games last year, he added.
He said there were no plans to alter the amount of tokens that had to be collected to qualify for free equipment, despite calculations by the Food Commission that a child would have to eat more than 20,000 calories to earn a netball that was worth about £5.
Cosslett said over 90% of Cadbury products were bought by adults, and schools and families could club together to collect equipment.
He said: "There is no need to change the promotion, it is in line with industry best practice in terms of redemption rates."
There had been an early groundswell of support for the promotion, he added, with 4,103 schools now involved. "We are annoyed at the way a very important issue and well thought out programme has been trivialised by people who should know better."
The Cadbury promotion was set up in partnership with government sponsored body the Youth Sport Trust, which promotes sporting activity to tackle social problems affecting young people like social exclusion.
Cosslett said: "The issue is the role of manufacturers in society, we have a unique relationship with consumers. Intake of energy is actually declining, but people are becoming bigger. We are tackling lack of activity."
{{NEWS }}
Cadbury Trebor Bassett has mounted a robust defence of its £9m Get Active Free Sports Kit 4 Schools marketing campaign after it was attacked by consumer groups.
Andy Cosslett, regional president for Europe, Middle East and Africa confectionery at CTB parent Cadbury Schweppes, said groups like the Food Commission and the Consumers' Association had made an "absurd extrapolation" that Cadbury was encouraging children to guzzle chocolate.
He said the new 12-week promotion where on-pack tokens could be redeemed for sports equipment encouraged a more active lifestyle as children become more sedentary. Cadbury could have spent the money on television commercials, but wanted to continue its cause-related marketing activities, following its sponsorship of the Manchester Commonwealth games last year, he added.
He said there were no plans to alter the amount of tokens that had to be collected to qualify for free equipment, despite calculations by the Food Commission that a child would have to eat more than 20,000 calories to earn a netball that was worth about £5.
Cosslett said over 90% of Cadbury products were bought by adults, and schools and families could club together to collect equipment.
He said: "There is no need to change the promotion, it is in line with industry best practice in terms of redemption rates."
There had been an early groundswell of support for the promotion, he added, with 4,103 schools now involved. "We are annoyed at the way a very important issue and well thought out programme has been trivialised by people who should know better."
The Cadbury promotion was set up in partnership with government sponsored body the Youth Sport Trust, which promotes sporting activity to tackle social problems affecting young people like social exclusion.
Cosslett said: "The issue is the role of manufacturers in society, we have a unique relationship with consumers. Intake of energy is actually declining, but people are becoming bigger. We are tackling lack of activity."
{{NEWS }}
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