A study of one child-geared advertising campaign, launched by Taco Bell, demonstrates how perverse this marketing really is. In 2006, Taco Bell launched a campaign to convince children to eat a “Fourth Meal,” which is after dinner and before breakfast. (Essentially, the fourth meal is at the time of night when children should be sleeping or doing their homework.)
The campaign kicked off with a website showing children in their pajamas wandering around outside and eating nachos, tacos and other late-night snacks offered by Taco Bell. The foods being marketed often had more than 400 calories, placing them squarely in the meal category. But the goal isn’t just to sell more tacos; it’s actually to carve out an entire new post-dinner market where the consumer base is young children.
From: 7 Highly Disturbing Trends in Junk Food Advertising to Children on Alternet