Of particular concern are agreements with soda vendors, criticized by health advocates trying to combat obesity among children and teens. Company officials blamed anti-commercialism in schools for scaring off potential advertisers. Though ads have long been present in U.S. schools, a report by the General Accounting Office last fall found that such commercial activity is a growth industry as school budgets become tighter.
Companies sell products such as food and beverages in schools.
They buy ads on scoreboards and buses, and on Channel One, a television news service broadcast to 8 million students in 12,000 schools in 48 states. Because Channel One's 12-minute broadcast includes ads, the program, launched in 1990, has been controversial. In New York schools, a ban on Channel One remains in place despite several repeal attempts. Industries also promote their agendas indirectly through classroom materials designed to portray their company in the best light. Timber companies explain the benefits of clear-cutting, for example, and Exxon produces materials offering its version of the environmental fallout from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.