Your group is a team of Kraft Heinz Co. (www.kraftheinzcompany.com) marketing interns. The company has asked you to propose new guidelines for helping it promote food to children in a socially responsible way. As the fifth-largest consumer packaged food and beverage company globally, Kraft Heinz's 2016 sales exceeded $26 billion. The company projects steady growth, but would like your help in boosting growth. One of Kraft’s largest brands is Oscar Mayer Lunchables, described as making lunch fun and targeted to busy parents who want a quick lunch to send with their children to school or keep on hand as an after-school snack. One of the options is Lunchables with Juice, Nachos Cheese Dip, and Salsa. However, controversy is growing about the social responsibility of directly marketing to children when the food is unhealthy— high in fat, sugar, and salt, but low in nutrition. There is a societal concern with the growing rate of obesity in children and the increased incidence of diabetes that results from childhood obesity. Kraft would like to have a reputation as a socially responsible company. Accordingly, Kraft would like to create internal guidelines that will help it market Lunchables (as well as other packaged food items) responsibly and gain the approval of medical professionals, parents, and watchdog groups.

1. Visit the Kraft food website (www.lunchables.com) and review the Lunchables products, as well as other packaged food products that Kraft offers. Discuss among your group members the extent to which the product options are healthy choices.
2. Identify other actions that Kraft might take to demonstrate that it is a food company that genuinely cares about children’s health and a company that would like to help reverse the trend of increasing childhood obesity.
3. If your group believes that the company is not responsible for personal choices that consumers make to eat unhealthy food, then describe how the company should respond to activist groups and public health officials that are urging companies to stop producing and marketing unhealthy foods.