Mário Frota, head of the association, said it is “a shame” that “the law is not observed and enforced”.
His grievance is not only that children are being misused in advertising campaigns, but also that the campaigns are targeting young audiences.
Speaking to Lusa News Agency, Mr. Frota stressed that the advertising code expressly stipulates that “minors can only have main roles in advertising messages when there is a direct relationship between them and the product or service being aired “, such as nappies, toys or games.
In recent times, according to the consumer expert, complaints have been logged against brands including Skip, Vodafone, Fairy, Seat and Calvé for the “misuse of children” in their adverts, as the product is not related to them.
In Mr. Frota’s opinion, “children are being used as bait for consumers, because in addition to having an image that entices, they are cheap labour.”
The head of the APDC describes it as “a new form of child exploitation.”
According to Mário Frota, around “30 to 40 percent of European families’ budgets are influenced by children, who end up being the targets of advertising campaigns in a context of increasing sales.”
His view is that “the Portuguese State is completely inert and there are several brands that continue with this aberration, which must be stopped as quickly as possible because the fundamental rights of children are at risk.”
“Minors do not have the ability to make purchases, with the exception of what is within the range of their maturity, but they are able to ask for the acquisition of things after being persuaded by advertising that takes advantage of their weaker understanding,” he argued.
Noting that the Directorate-General for Consumers has yet to state its position on the complaints, the chairman of the APDC said he would like such adverts to be suspended because they “ostensibly violate the law.”
“There should be a provisional suspension, similar to what happens with injunctions, which aim to prevent a threat from being consummated”, the consumer law expert reasoned.
Mário Frota revealed that the APDC has sent a letter to the Ministry of Economy asking for its intervention of and for the revision of Article 14 of the Advertising Code – which refers specifically to the misuse of minors in advertising – to prohibit all advertising aimed at children aged up to 12 or 14 years, as happens in countries such as Canada, Sweden and Norway.
In the United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, and Belgium advertising to children is restricted. In Quebec (Canada), Sweden and Norway, advertising to children under the age of 12 is illegal.
In September, Frota added, he is due to meet with the president of the National Protection Committee for Children and Youths at Risk, to discuss the situation.