Media Smart - backed by Masterfoods, Hasbro and others - launches today (Wednesday) with the aim of helping six- to 11-year-olds take a more critical view of advertising.
The initiative will feature a New Year TV ad campaign that tells kids 'not to believe everything they see on TV'.
It also includes a web site featuring a game for youngsters to create their 'own brand look'. They are encouraged to experiment with different clothes and spectacles to achieve their desired impression.
Media Smart is a lobbying initiative by advertisers who fear a blanket ban on their ability to promote their products to children.
The ad, which will be shown during kids programming, shows a tiny hippo that roams around the house when kids are asleep. Viewers are then told 'But you knew that couldn't be real didn't you?', teaching primary children to be sceptical about television.
Paul Jackson, chairman of Media Smart said: "Yes, ads do affect children. But the choice is to ban them altogether or teach children to think more critically."
At the heart of the initiative is a pack that will be distributed to schools as part of the National Curriculum.
Jackson aims to bring 20 advertisers on board and says he is "confident of raising £300,000" for the initiative's first phase. Today's launch will be endorsed by culture secretary Tessa Jowell, who wants to make media literacy a central part of the government's Communications Bill.
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