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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the nature of advergames and the rhetoric versus reality of their claimed effects and effectiveness, focusing specifically on their use by children.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis of major web sites that are likely to have particular appeal to children and an evaluation in order to determine whether the material contained in these sites would be permitted if similar codes of practice, as for other media, would be applied to internet sites.FindingsThe paper finds that the majority of web sites do not comply with the existing broadcasting codes of practice for mainstream advertising.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is exploratory in nature and the sample size limited.Practical implicationsAs the paper suggests that advertisers should critically examine the content of their web sites and open the debate about what constitutes acceptable online behavior.Originality/valueThe paper offers insights about the content of advergames in practice and the potential problems associated with regulation of advertising in different media forms, especially new and evolving media forms.

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There is widespread concern that consumers are making inappropriate decisions about what they eat, leading to a growing incidence of obesity and chronic illness which will strain public health budgets and damage economic competitiveness. Inappropriate nutritional decisions and obesity are of particular public policy importance where young consumers are concerned. The paper investigates how consumers, particularly young consumers, can be persuaded to make better nutritional decisions voluntarily, and how government and commercial persuasive communications can be deployed to facilitate such decisions. The key conclusions are that the mass media are not a reliable vehicle for bringing about the desired behavioural changes, but that new media, such as the Internet and "text messaging" should be used to deliver tailored messages to individuals, particularly younger consumers.