New York, NY - December 19, 2002 The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB) is pleased to announce that IN ZONE Brands, Inc. (IN ZONE) has agreed to modify its Bellywashers.com Website, the official Website for the BellyWashers brand of collectible "interactive" beverages (sweetened 100% vitamin C drinks topped with cartoon characters) in order to protect the privacy of children who visit the site. The site offers information about the BellyWashers collection (e.g., characters, flavors, launch date, retired date, list of ingredients), provides games to play, and allows visitors to vote anonymously on whether to add new cartoon characters to BellyWashers line of bottles. The site also invites visitors to join "Team "BellyWashers," a program that allows the company to communicate with and seek information from consumers regarding preferred characters, new flavors, etc.

CARU, which monitors Websites for compliance with CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising (the Guidelines) as well with the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), had found that children under age 13 who visited the site could sign up for team BellyWashers, without prior parental notification and an ability to opt out, as required by the Guidelines and COPPA. IN ZONE immediately agreed to change its method of registration and, going beyond the requirements of the Guidelines and COPPA, now requires a print-out form that parents must mail or fax to the company before the company collects any personally identifiable information from children under age 13. In addition, IN ZONE worked cooperatively with CARU to institute age screening and tracking mechanisms, which will prevent underage users from pressing the back button and immediately reregistering as an older child. CARU commends IN ZONE for its proactive stance on children's privacy.

The company stated, "IN ZONE Brands particularly appreciates the fact that CARU's constructive guidance not only helped bring the site into compliance with COPPA, but also helped the company simplify the administrative challenges, which existed in its earlier parental consent and age screening systems. IN ZONE Brands respects CARU and its role in assuring compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and is committed to protecting the privacy of its young consumers."

CARU's inquiry was conducted under NAD/NARB/CARU Procedures for Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising. Details of the inquiry, CARU's decision and the advertiser's response will be included in the next NAD/CARU Case Report.

Members of the press who wish to see a copy of the decision now should email CARU.

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The National Advertising Review Council (NARC) was formed in 1971 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA), the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Inc. (AAAA), the American Advertising Federation, Inc. (AAF), and the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB). Its purpose is to foster truth and accuracy in national advertising through voluntary self-regulation. NARC is the body that establishes the policies and procedures for the CBBB's National Advertising Division (NAD), the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU), and the National Advertising Review Board (NARB).

NAD and CARU are the investigative arms of the advertising industry's voluntary self-regulation program. Their casework results from competitive challenges from other advertisers, and also from self-monitoring traditional and new media, including the Internet. The National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appeals body, is a peer group from which ad-hoc panels are selected to adjudicate those cases that are not resolved at the NAD/CARU level. This unique, self-regulatory system is funded entirely by the business community; CARU is financed by the children's advertising industry, while NAD/NARB's sole source of funding is derived from membership fees paid to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.