Parents and children across Bristol are being asked to take part in a ‘citizen science project’ to find out just how exposed young people are to often inappropriate advertising on their way and from school.
National campaign group Adfree Cities is asking families in Bristol to spot the ads that they see on their way to school, make a note of them or take photos, and submit those to the project, to get a better handle on the kinds of ads children are exposed to in their daily lives.
The aim of the project is to build up a better understanding of the scale of exposure to advertising, as part of their campaign.
Adfree Cities pointed to the decision last month, which saw mayors in nine areas of Britain banned junk food advertising on their public transport networks in recognition of the impact those kind of ads have on children and young people’s health.
“By exploring the ads in their neighbourhoods together and asking questions about advertising we can start to understand the impact that this has on children and imagine what could be there instead and what people would rather see in their communities,” a spokesperson for Adfree Cities said.
“Children are exposed to ads constantly in their daily lives including when they are travelling to and from school. But we don’t really know what ads our children are seeing on our streets every day or how those ads affect them,” she added.
“We are asking families to get involved by simply taking photos of the ads they spot on the way to and from school and use the #Adspotters hashtag on social media. They can also download a guide to print out and take with them from the website.”
Adfree Cities is a national campaign group, run by volunteers, with a strong presence in Bristol – with the local group Adblock Bristol successfully campaigning against plans for several digital advertising screens on main roads around the city, as well as holding takeover events in which pavement screen ads are covered with paper and young children encouraged to draw on them.
The co-director of Adfree Cities is Charlotte Gage. “Kids are bombarded by adverts on their way to school but they don’t always understand that these are created to make them buy something they probably don’t even want or need,” she said.
“Children need to be able to question and challenge advertising and Adspotters is a way to recognise how many ads we see everyday and for parents to start these conversations. Then we can imagine what other things we might want to see on our streets instead,” she added.