Asda and Lidl have said it will remove cartoon characters from their own-brand cereals to tackle parents being pestered into buying unhealthy choices and help combat childhood obesity
Lidl was the first to announce the move which said it was in response to nearly three-quarters of parents saying they experience pester power from their children in the supermarket, with over half believing cartoon characters on cereal packaging encourages this.
Lidl said it will rebrand eight of its own-brand Crownfield products in total and introduce new, cartoon-free branding from Spring.
Georgina Hall, the retailer's head of corporate social responsibility said: "We know pester power can cause difficult battles on the shop floor and we're hoping that removing cartoon characters from cereal packaging will alleviate some of the pressure parents are under," she said.
Asda then followed announcing they would also remove cartoon characters from its cereals.
The move will see the rollout of 12 revised cereals and cereal bar packs including Malted Wheaties, Rice Snaps Cereal Bars and Unicorn Hoops online and in store on 24 February.
Aldi has already removed child-friendly characters from most of its breakfast products with only two variants outstanding however they have announced they will be removing the final cartoon characters from its range of breakfast cereals packaging by the end of March 2020.
