The Center for Digital Democracy, a group that instigated the enactment of the federal Child Online Protection Act with its digital marketing study in the mid-'90s, has written a 98-page report on the practices of food marketers on cell phones, digital video, social networks, games and virtual worlds.

The CDD plans to present the report to the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday, the eve of an FTC deadline for public comment on food marketers' tactics to reach children across all media.

The report, called Interactive Food & Beverage Marketing: Targeting Children and Youth, was commissioned by the Berkeley Media Studies Group. It highlights new types of digital media marketing by food and beverage companies. Such tactics include food company-created viral videos on YouTube and fast-food characters posing as "friends" on the teen hangout MySpace.

To read the article, click here [1].