Maria-Theresia Strasse 24, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Contact: Dr. Stefan Kofler
Tel: 43.512.57.18.11
Fax: 43.512.58.49.25
Email: stefan.kofler@lawfirm.at
Website: www.greiter.lawfirm.at

 

Advertising to Children
Greiter, Pegger, Kofler & Partners

Report on the legal situation relating to advertising to children in Austria.

1. Advertising to Children in General

Advertising to children as such is subject to the same legal framework as advertising to adults. Advertising to children in general, therefore, has to be examined under the same legal provisions as advertising to adults.

However, for specific ways of advertising and for spe-cific products, a regulation exists in order to protect chil-dren and minors.

2. Specific products

a. Tobacco

• No advertising for tobacco products is allowed in the direct neighbourhood of schools and youth centres

• No advertising for tobacco products is allowed in cinemas showing movies open to minors. - No advertising for tobacco products is allowed, if ad-vertising is specifically targeting young people.

• No advertising for tobacco products is allowed, if smoking people are shown under the age of 30.

• No advertising for tobacco products is allowed by using cartoons and comics.

• No advertising for tobacco products is allowed by distributing advertising novelties to children and mi-nors in connection with tobacco products

b. Alcohol

• No TV-advertising for alcoholic beverages is al-lowed, if advertising is specifically targeting minors.

• No TV-advertising for alcoholic beverages is al-lowed, if minors consuming alcoholic beverages are shown in the advertisement.

3. Ways of advertising

• No TV-advertising is allowed, which could bodily or psychologically harm minors.

• No TV-advertising targeting minors is allowed, if it is attempted to take advantage of the minors' lack of experience.

• No TV-advertising is allowed, if children shall be en-couraged to motivate their parents to purchase products or services.

• No TV-advertising is allowed, if it is attempted to take advantage of the confidential relationship be-tween minors on the one hand and parents and teachers on the other hand.

• No TV-advertising is allowed, which without neces-sity shows minors in dangerous situations.

4. Self-regulation

According to self-regulation guidelines of the Austrian advertising business, advertising shall take into account that children do not have the experience as adults do. For this reason, advertising shall not take undue ad-vantage of the children's lack of experience.

Advertising shall not directly invite children to purchase products or to influence other persons accordingly. Ad-vertising shall not in any way effect psychological or so-cial pressure to purchase products.

Certain examples are given in the self-regulation guide-lines, which methods of advertising to children shall be avoided:

• Children should not be talked into believing that the possession or enjoyment of a certain product is a target to be aimed for.

• Children should not be made to feel that they are inferior or that their parents are negligent, if they do not purchase or own a certain product.

• The purchase of a product should not take advan-tage of the feeling of attachment between children or between adults and children.

• Children should not be animated to endanger their health or safety or to be a bad example to others.

• Advertising should not tempt children to neglect their duties or to perform undesirable social behaviour.

The self regulation guidelines of the Austrian Advertising Business are mere recommendations. This, however, would not exclude that in certain cases, the court could use these recommendations as standards in order to define, whether advertising to children is offending against public morals and good manners or not.