3.7. Direct exhortations to children – No 28

This ban includes putting pressure on children to buy a product directly or to persuade adults to buy items for them (‘pester power’). A recurrent claim made by many traders about this ban is that it can be difficult to distinguish marketing directed at children from marketing directed at other consumers. Similarly, it could sometimes be unclear whether a commercial practice includes a direct exhortation to children. Nevertheless, the check to determine whether a commercial practice falls under point 28 of Annex I must be carried out taking into account all the facts and circumstances of an individual case. The assessment may take into account various factors, such as the design of the marketing, the medium used to send the marketing, the type of language used, the presence of topics or characters that may in particular appeal to children, the presence of age-restrictions, providing direct links to making purchases etc. (263) A national enforcement authority or court is also not bound by the trader’s own definition of the target group for the commercial practice in question, although that definition may be taken into account. The assessment should also take into account the steps that the trader has taken in protecting minors from direct exhortation. Traders should adapt the marketing according to the consumers that could actually be reached by the practice, not only according to the intended target group. In 2013-2014, the Commission and national authorities, carried out a joint enforcement action on online games that offer possibilities to make purchases while playing (in-app purchases) and that are likely to appeal to or to be played by children, which is further discussed in section 4.2.9 (271). The authorities considered that point No 28 Annex I to the UCPD applies to games that are likely to appeal to children, not only those solely or specifically targeted at children. A game or application, and the exhortation contained within it, may be considered as directed at children within the meaning of point No 28 of Annex I if the trader could reasonably be expected to foresee that it is likely to appeal to children.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.