Skip to main content

CARU's Annual West Coast Conference:


CARU's annual conference is happening on Wednesday May 11th at the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey, California. If there is one conference to attend this year about children's marketing, this is it. With so much happening right now in the children's marketing industry, you want to be part of the discussion. 

CARU’s annual conference is unique, bringing together legal experts and major children’s advertisers to examine trends and issues facing companies who market to children. As methods of children’s advertising become more complex, advertisers must be aware of evolving obligations. Panelists will provide insight and advice on what companies need to know and do in order to avoid legal missteps when it comes to online privacy, mobile and smart technology, connected toys, data security, native advertising and endorsements. Leave with inspiration and practical advice for your own brand.


Expert panelists will consider challenging issues facing the Children's Advertising Industry. We have a great lineup of expert panelists from top children’s advertisers including Mattel, The Walt Disney Company, Nickelodeon, HULU, The Pokémon Company and DreamWorks. To view the complete agenda, click here.

And we have two incredible keynote speakers that we are thrilled to announce:

  • Paul Berberian – CEO of Sphero – Sphero is the creator of one of the most popular toys of the year— the BB8 smartphone-controlled robot from Disney’s “Star Wars.”  Mr. Berberian will discuss technology and toy trends.

  • Madeline Di Nonno – CEO of The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media will discuss the work that her organization does as well as discuss the future of girls and women in advertising.

To register for the CARU Conference, click here. For more information about pricing and applicable discounts please contact Rey Persaud at rpersaud@asrc.bbb.org or (212) 705-0113.

Want to make your trip even better? CARU's sister organization, the Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program will hold a half-day seminar, May 12th, the day after CARU’s event at the same hotel. The Digital Advertising Alliance will be hosting a conference on May 13th at the Ritz-Carlton, Marina Del Rey as well. 

Popular posts from this blog

CARU Speaks at Community Board in Manhattan

CARU staff attorney Andra Dallas gave a presentation to Community Board 1, serving lower Manhattan on Monday, December 7 th .  Andra spoke to the Board’s Youth Committee about the importance of teaching children about understanding advertising and safe online practices.  District Manager Noah Pfefferblit remarked, “thank you for your informative presentation to our Youth Committee members,” and offered the Board’s assistance if they “can be helpful to the important efforts at the Children's Advertising Review Unit.” Are you interested in having a CARU staff member visit your community board? Contact adallas@caru.bbb.org.

i-Dressup Shuts Down in Wake of Privacy Breach and COPPA Violation

I-Dressup, a fashion-themed social website for teens, has completely shut down as part of a settlement with the New Jersey Department of Consumer Affairs, following a massive privacy breach and violations of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and New Jersey state law. In September 2016, a hacker sent 2.2 million i-Dressup account credentials to technology blog Arstechnica as well as to haveibeenpwned.com, a searchable online database of data breaches. Responding to the news, New Jersey investigators discovered that 2,519 of the compromised accounts belonged to New Jersey children below age 13. I-Dressup, allegedly aware that it had child users, had violated COPPA by failing to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting and processing personal information from the children, including first and last names and email addresses. In a consent decree with the New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Gerwal, parent company Unixiz has closed i-Dressup,

Kids Internet Design and Safety Act Seeks to Protect Children from Harmful Online Content

United States Senators, Mr. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut and Mr. Edward Markey from Massachusetts, introduced a new bill referred to as the Kids Internet Design and Safety Act (the “KIDS Act”). One of the Senator’s introducing the KIDS Act, Mr. Edward Markey, was the co-author of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). The KIDS Act seeks to include noteworthy advertising rules and create new protections for children online, specifically for online users under the age of 16. The proposed advertising rules within the KIDS Act are to ban websites from: (1) exposing young online users to advertisements “with embedded interactive elements”; (2) recommending any content involving alcohol, nicotine, or tobacco to young online users; and (3) recommending content that includes influencer marketing, like unboxing videos, or host-selling to young online users. Additionally, the KIDS Act seeks to prohibit certain online features to protect children, like prohibiting