It explained on the site :
Not Marketing to Children
One important aspect of the Mars Marketing Code is our commitment not to direct advertisements to children under 12 years of age. In 2007, we were the first food company to announce a global commitment to stop advertising food, snack and confectionery products to children under 12.
Specifically, we do not buy advertising time or space if more than a quarter of the audience is likely to be under 12 and we do not advertise on websites aimed at those under 13. Visitors to most of our web pages have to enter their birth date before downloading branded wallpapers or screensavers or participating in activities. Our advertisements and promotions never depict unaccompanied children under 12 eating snack foods, nor do we use them as spokespeople for our brands.
We continue to use established brand characters such as the M&M’S® Characters, but will refrain from creating new characters with child appeal for chocolate, gum and confections. The actions and speech of the M&M’S® Characters are intended for an audience over 12 years of age, and we continue to emphasize their mature personalities and adult characteristics.
Our Marketing Code also states that Mars does not place vending machines offering our snack food products in primary schools and does not offer Mars-branded educational materials or sponsor sporting events at primary schools, except in connection with established educational or public service messaging programs on responsible gum disposal and oral health care, or upon the request of schools.
We are a member of the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) industry coalition, which commits member companies to upholding shared marketing standards. The IFBA monitors its members’ performance, and a third party audits a sample of ten countries with a global spread.
In addition to our global Marketing Code, we have signed country-specific marketing pledges around the world. We have made the following formal public commitments to responsible advertising, which encourage collective action
