- April 13th, 2021, 8:10 am#4948106What is illegal is for the ads to be intentionally aimed at children of a certain age. For example having Buzz Lightyear chugging Dr. Pepper in a commercial would not be allowed because the franchise he comes from is itself aimed at children. However characters from Family Guy would be allowed because they target an adult audience.
EDIT
I seem to be mistaken. It is not a law but self-regulatory. Found this online
Many industry groups have self-regulatory codes governing advertising and disputes within the industry. The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau is an industry group that reviews national advertising for truthfulness and resolves truth in advertising disputes. The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus is the children's component of the advertising industry's self-regulation system. CARU publishes "Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising." The guidelines, which apply to national advertising primarily directed to children under 12 years of age in any medium, ensure that advertising directed to children is not deceptive, unfair or inappropriate for its intended audience. The guidelines take into account that children are uniquely impressionable and vulnerable. For example, in determining whether an advertisement is deceptive, CARU looks at the level of experience, sophistication, and maturity of the children in the intended audience, in addition to any limits on their cognitive abilities and their ability to evaluate the advertising claims. The guidelines also address online data collection and privacy-related practices targeting children under 13 years of age, consistent with COPPA, a federal law discussed below. CARU monitors television commercials and reviews advertisements in print, radio and online media. When CARU finds children's product advertising to be misleading, inaccurate, or inconsistent with its guidelines, it seeks change through the voluntary cooperation of advertisers.