New York, NY March 13, 2003 – The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. (CBBB) announced today that, while General Mills Inc. disagreed with CARU's assessment of a specific Go- Gurt commercial, it has agreed not to use the commercial after its current broadcast flight is complete and has agreed to take into consideration CARU's perspective in future commercials depicting athletic endeavors. CARU monitors child-directed advertising for compliance with CARU's Self- Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising (the Guidelines).

The Guidelines include safety-related provisions such as: "Products should be shown used in safe ways, in safe environments and in safe situations." A Go- Gurt commercial raised concerns under the Guidelines because, in CARU's opinion, it depicted a young skateboarder moving at rapid speeds through a business district, narrowly averting two collisions. After the second near- collision, he goes flying off his skateboard, holding onto his Go-Gurt tube during the fall. CARU noted that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has documented that skateboarding has resulted in a large number of injuries and that, consequently, special care should be taken while engaging in the activity. CARU also noted that, in recognition of the potential danger to both pedestrians and skateboarders, many municipalities have banned skateboarding in downtown districts. Thus CARU concluded that the commercial can be viewed as not only portraying behavior that constitutes an infraction of a local law in many areas, but also as depicting the type of skateboarding that could increase the risk of an accident and thus, the possibility of a serious injury.

General Mills contended that the skateboarder in the commercial was wearing the appropriate protective gear; that skateboarding is commonly done on the sidewalk as a means of transportation by young teens; that many sidewalks, even urban sidewalks, are still open to skateboard travel; and that the locale depicted in the commercial was not congested with either people or traffic. General Mills further stated that any maneuver depicted in the commercial was intended to avoid a collision and that the skateboarder was not engaging in any kind of reckless behavior. Finally, General Mills asserted that this is a case where reasonable minds disagree on the appropriate interpretation of the Guidelines but, nonetheless, General Mills remains committed to the mission of CARU.

CARU's inquiry was conducted under the 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.