New York, NY - December 7, 2004. The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB), the children's advertising industry's self-regulatory forum, is pleased to announce that it has reached a decision in regards to a print insert for Mattel, Inc.'s Polly Pocket^TM named "Polly! Pocket mag!" featured in the September 2004, issue of Nickelodeon magazine. The eight-page "Polly Pocket!^TM mag!" featured Polly Pocket,^TM and her group of friends , small dolls marketed by Mattel. The "magazine" contained pictures of products, such as Polly Pocket - Relaxin' Resort Rock'n Roller Coaster Hotel and the Par-tay Bus^TM and contained activities such as a "Wild Word Search" and "Puzzle Poem" and additionally featured a link to the Polly Pocket Website. CARU found that, because of the unique format of the insert, children flipping through Nickelodeon magazine might be confused as to the nature of "Polly Pocket!™ Mag!" and would not understand that "Polly Pocket!™ Mag!" was an insert paid for by Mattel to promote awareness of the Polly Pocket brand, i.e., that it was an advertisement. The insert did not identify itself as an advertisement.

Mattel asserted that the publication was a character-driven magazine as recognized under CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising (the Guidelines) and similar to product-driven websites, and thus should be treated the same way by CARU.

CARU concluded that the publication is not a character-driven magazine as recognized under CARU's Guidelines, but is an advertising insert. A child who acquires a character-driven magazine has intentionally sought out that magazine; a child who subscribes to or purchases Nickelodeon magazine reads that magazine for its editorial content and may not realize that this is advertising by Mattel.

As they are currently written CARU's Guidelines do not require print advertisements to be identified as such, although CARU believes it is within the spirit of the Guidelines for an advertiser to identify this advertising as such.

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 at elascoutx@caru.bbb.org

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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.