By Joseph Forster
Germany in crisis mode – and the government is concerned with when children watch TV…
Food Minister Cem Özdemir (57, Greens) is planning a ban on advertising, including on TV, for certain foods (sweets, ice cream, etc.). And always creates confusion.
► Times: Initially, Özdemir wanted a daily advertising ban from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Now he plans from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturdays. And on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
► Places: Advertising for ice cream etc. is to be banned within a radius of 100 meters around schools and day-care centers. BUT: It is still allowed on playgrounds, sports fields etc.
What a curd!
The justification for the confusion surrounding the ban on advertising: combating obesity in children.
“Broad bans and paternalism”
Now it rains criticism: Gitta Connemann (59), head of the Union for SMEs, goes on the barricades: “Özdemir’s concessions do not solve the basic problem: he does not rely on the personal responsibility of parents and citizens, but on broad-based bans and paternalism.”
According to Connemann, there are more pressing problems. Many people are afraid of no longer being able to pay rent, energy and groceries: “That should concern Minister Özdemir. But he doesn’t care. That increases disenchantment with politics.”
Christian Köhler, general manager of the brand association, also has no understanding for the adjusted advertising ban.
Koehler to BILD: “According to our information, the announced changes are still insufficient.” The draft still wants to ban food advertising in the main advertising periods. Especially in the evening hours. “This is not helpful because there is no evidence that advertising bans have a positive effect on children’s health,” says Koehler.
“Suspicion of Politics”
There are also protests against the advertising ban inside the traffic lights. Gero Hocker (47), agricultural policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, to BILD: “The merely cosmetic changes cannot cover up the Greens’ fantasies of a ban.”
Hocker continues: “To intervene to this extent in the parents’ task of bringing up children would not only be counterproductive, but would also increase the already existing suspicion of politics.”