Responsible Marketing

Responsibly marketing our foods

W.K. Kellogg set the tone for our company’s continued commitment to protecting and promoting consumer confidence when he put his name on every product as his personal assurance of quality. We continue this dedication to responsibly market and communicate the intrinsic quality of our foods so consumers can make informed choices.

Kellogg was one of the first companies to put nutrition information on its cereal packages in the 1930s. This belief that more information about our foods is good for people’s overall wellbeing continues today. In 2020, Kellogg made further progress when we introduced the Kellogg Childhood Wellbeing Promise and updated our Kellogg Worldwide Marketing and Communication Guidelines (KWWMCG).

Childhood obesity is one of the great public health challenges of our times. We believe a more holistic approach to children’s health and wellbeing focused on eating patterns, social connectivity and improved food security may result in better outcomes. To help achieve these goals in the U.S., we developed the Childhood Wellbeing Promise to positively affect the wellbeing of children and families. It focuses on two key pillars: 1) improving access to nourishing, affordable and sustainable foods and 2) motivating kids to embrace wellbeing and physical activity.

Some of the ways we are improving access to food in the U.S. include evolving our portfolio of foods most visible to kids to enable positive eating habits, delivering shortfall nutrients like fiber and vitamin D, and driving the intake of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. In 2020, we strengthened our internal standards for foods marketed to children under 13. These are detailed in the global Kellogg Worldwide Marketing and Communications Guidelines (KWWMCG). Kellogg does not market to children under 6, and we only market products that meet strict nutrition criteria to children ages 6-12.

In addition to our recently updated Kellogg Worldwide Marketing and Communications Guidelines, Kellogg supports industry self-regulatory programs at global, regional and national levels. We adhere to the International Chamber of Commerce Advertising and Marketing Communications Code. We also are a signatory to, and publicly report our compliance with, 21 responsible marketing pledges including:

International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) and Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) global pledges;
European Union (EU) and Gulf Cooperation Council regional pledges;
National pledges in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and the United States.

We annually monitor and report compliance with our KWWMCG as part of our participation in these programs, which is verified by independent, third-party auditors. We review these results and work with our marketing and media teams to address any incidences of noncompliance and implement the appropriate corrective action to prevent future issues.

In 2022, we complied with our U.S. and Canada advertising to children pledges, as required by applicable self-regulatory program. In 2022, in the EU, per our EU Pledge, we achieved 97.5% compliance with our commitments for TV based advertising on a review conducted by Ebiquity in Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain. The EU Pledge also has a mechanism through which anyone may question the compliance of a marketing communication with an organization’s commitment. In 2022, in other globally representative markets of Colombia, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa, we achieved 100 percent compliance with our TV advertising commitments as verified by Ebiquity.

Kellogg also applies to its marketing activities the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Code of Advertising and Marketing Communication Practice, the ICC Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communications, and Kellogg Advertising Brand Safety Guidelines.

Responsibly marketing our foods has been and will continue to be a cornerstone practice of Kellogg.