Contests for Kids: What Brands Need to Know Before They Launch
If you are planning a giveaway, contest, or sweepstakes involving children under the age of 13 or one that’s directed to a “mixed audience,” this blog is for you.
Let’s talk about how to run a promotion that’s exciting, effective, and most importantly, compliant with the laws, regulations, and industry best practices for child-directed marketing.
No matter the label, if you are offering something of value in exchange for participation in an opportunity to win a prize, you are advertising, and that means your promotion must comply with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules, the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) Advertising and Privacy Guidelines, and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
For an audience of children under the age of 13, it is the company hosting the promotion that is responsible for ensuring the audience knows that the promotion is advertising.
Marketers should ask themselves:
Marketers should also ask themselves:
Any promotion that includes a prize, chance, and consideration is an illegal lottery.
To stay on the right side of the law, your promotion must omit at least one of the following:
Most sweepstakes remove consideration to avoid being classified as an illegal lottery. That means advertisers running a promotion cannot require a purchase or payment of any type or ask entrants to spend excessive time creating content, engaging on social media, or completing in-game tasks just to participate and be entered into the promotion.
Contests (where winners are chosen based on a set criteria of skill or talent) can include a purchase or effort requirement because the element of chance is removed.
If your participants are under the age of 13 and you need to collect personal information as part of the promotion entry and submission process, get to know CARU’s Privacy Guidelines and COPPA’s strict rules on data collection, use, and disclosure practices. Key requirements include:
Under COPPA, there’s a limited exception for collecting online contact information from a child to notify a child if he or she has won, and the information is not used to re-contact the child, or for any other purpose. But even that information must be deleted promptly after responding to the child’s request.
In addition to CARU’s Ad Guidelines, if your promotion includes influencers or endorsers, the FTC Endorsement Guides also apply.
Some common pitfalls to watch for:
If your promotion involves uploading selfies or submitting content, remember those are considered personal information under COPPA. VPC is required.
Be sure to:
One best practice: Wait to collect full personal information until after winners are selected. This minimizes privacy risks and reduces your compliance burden.
Let’s talk about how to run a promotion that’s exciting, effective, and most importantly, compliant with the laws, regulations, and industry best practices for child-directed marketing.
Promotions Are Advertising, No Matter What You Call Them
Giveaway. Contest. Sweepstakes.No matter the label, if you are offering something of value in exchange for participation in an opportunity to win a prize, you are advertising, and that means your promotion must comply with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules, the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) Advertising and Privacy Guidelines, and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
For an audience of children under the age of 13, it is the company hosting the promotion that is responsible for ensuring the audience knows that the promotion is advertising.
Marketers should ask themselves:
- “From a design and user experience perspective, is it clear to children that the promotion is advertising?” and
- “Does the promotional content for the contest clearly and conspicuously state, in language that is easy for children to understand, that the sweepstakes or contest is advertising or contains advertising?”
Marketers should also ask themselves:
- “Is the free means of entry clearly and conspicuously disclosed?” and
- “Is the likelihood of winning stated in language that is easy for children to understand, such as ‘many will enter, few will win?’”
Know the Legal Formula: Prize + Chance + Consideration = Lottery
In general, a sweepstakes presents a child with a “luck-based” opportunity (a game of chance), such as winning a prize through a random drawing. In contrast, a contest presents a challenge-based manner of winning (a game of skill), where a prize is awarded after a demonstration of talent based on a set of judging criteria such as a drawing contest. Consideration means participants are required to make a purchase of a product or service, make a payment, or expend extensive effort in order to participate in the promotion.Any promotion that includes a prize, chance, and consideration is an illegal lottery.
To stay on the right side of the law, your promotion must omit at least one of the following:
- Prize (the reward);
- Chance (random drawing); or
- Consideration (money, time, or extensive effort to enter)
Most sweepstakes remove consideration to avoid being classified as an illegal lottery. That means advertisers running a promotion cannot require a purchase or payment of any type or ask entrants to spend excessive time creating content, engaging on social media, or completing in-game tasks just to participate and be entered into the promotion.
Contests (where winners are chosen based on a set criteria of skill or talent) can include a purchase or effort requirement because the element of chance is removed.
When Kids Are Involved, Consider Privacy
On the privacy side, CARU Privacy Guidelines and COPPA apply to the online collection of personal information from children under the age of 13. Personal information can include any of the following: full name, email, street address, phone numbers, photos, videos, audio recordings, biometric identifiers, persistent identifiers for tracking, and precise geolocation data.If your participants are under the age of 13 and you need to collect personal information as part of the promotion entry and submission process, get to know CARU’s Privacy Guidelines and COPPA’s strict rules on data collection, use, and disclosure practices. Key requirements include:
- Make clear disclosures: Children must understand that the promotion is advertising, so make sure your disclosures are made in language that children can understand.
- Use age-appropriate language: Explain how to enter, the likelihood of winning, and what the prize is in terms a child can understand.
- Limit the use of persistent identifiers, such as cookies, IP addresses, or unique device identifiers, that can be used to recognize a child over time and across different websites or for targeted advertising purposes.
- Limit personal data: Collect only what is reasonably necessary to fulfill the purpose of entering the promotion.
- Implement a neutral and effective age gate that does not include tip-off language that may encourage a child to falsify their age.
- Obtain Verifiable Parental Consent (VPC) before collecting any personal information like persistent identifiers, full name, phone numbers, photos, videos, or mailing addresses.
- Refrain from conditioning a child’s participation, the offering of a prize, or another activity on a child’s disclosing more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the activity.
Under COPPA, there’s a limited exception for collecting online contact information from a child to notify a child if he or she has won, and the information is not used to re-contact the child, or for any other purpose. But even that information must be deleted promptly after responding to the child’s request.
Influencers, QR Codes, and Snack-Sized Legal Risk
Influencers can play a powerful role, especially among children who often see them as trusted friends. Those parasocial relationships make clear disclosures even more important and raise the stakes for compliance.In addition to CARU’s Ad Guidelines, if your promotion includes influencers or endorsers, the FTC Endorsement Guides also apply.
Some common pitfalls to watch for:
- Health claims such as “super healthy” must be substantiated, even when promoted by a child influencer.
- Views expressed by influencers must reflect their actual beliefs, findings, or experiences.
- QR codes need oversight: Where does the code lead? Is the destination child-appropriate? Are you collecting personal data immediately after the scan?
- “Unlimited entries” or unclear prizes can be misleading if not clearly defined.
If your promotion involves uploading selfies or submitting content, remember those are considered personal information under COPPA. VPC is required.
Social Media Promotions Come with Extra Compliance Checks
Social media-based promotions bring their own legal obligations, especially when children may be participating.Be sure to:
- Disclose material connections: If participants are tagging your brand or reposting content, they must disclose the promotion using clear, specific disclosures (e.g., BrandNameSweepstakes, not just sweepstakes).
- Avoid directing children to platforms not intended for them: Most social media platforms have age restrictions. Asking kids under 13 to participate on those platforms violates platform terms and may violate COPPA.
Design a Better (and Safer) Promotion
When building your next promotion, ask:- Who is my primary audience? If children under 13 may participate, CARU’s Advertising and Privacy Guidelines and COPPA apply.
- Is it clear to my child audience that my promotion is advertising?
- What personal data do I really need? If you don’t need a full name or address, don’t ask for it.
- Is there inappropriate language for children, such as legalese, featured throughout the promotion?
- Is social sharing necessary for entry? If so, be prepared to obtain prior parental consent and ensure disclosures are clear.
- Are the prizes age-appropriate? A year’s supply of soda, for example, may not be the best fit for a child-focused giveaway.
One best practice: Wait to collect full personal information until after winners are selected. This minimizes privacy risks and reduces your compliance burden.