n less effective. It has investigated 238 cases since it was formed in 1974 and it found 83 percent (200) of these to be confusing, inaccurate, or inconsistent with the self-regulatory guidelines of the broadcasting industry. The problem here is that although the offenders almost always cooperated with CARU, it usually took months for the issues to be resolved, by which time many of the ads had already finished their runs and were off the air anyway (Kanner, 1988).
Little can be done to control television advertising directed at children due to the continued deregulation of the industry. The Federal Trade Commission's Improvement Act of 1980 determined that truthful advertising for a legal product or service can only be restricted under specific, stringent conditions. Furthermore, Ronald Reagan did his bit for deregulation in 1988 when he pocket-vetoed a bill which would have limited the number and times of adds in children's programming. Thus, the Federal Communications Commission's
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