An advertisement for Kellogg's LCM snack bars which targets children has been nominated by parents as the most misleading ad on television.
McDonald's and Krispy Kreme also received dubious honours at the annual Children's Food Marketing Name and Shame Awards, announced by the Parent's Jury in Sydney on Wednesday.
In contrast, Woolworth's was given the thumbs up from parents for its Fresh Food Kids campaign, which features TV ads of children making healthy snacks of fruit and vegetables.
In the Kellogg's ad, which received the Smoke and Mirrors award, a school principal announces a blue lunch box has been found over the PA.
The children are not interested in the healthy food in the lunchbox, but flock to the principal's office when she says there's an LCM bar inside.
The Parents Jury says the bars are high in sugar and poor in nutrition and the ad implies children do not like healthy food, but will come running for the bars.
The forum, which has more than 3,500 members, said there were much healthier options for lunchboxes and the bars should be an occasional treat.
"The Fame and Shame Awards allows Australian parents to fight back by naming and shaming food companies for irresponsibly marketing their products to children with complete disregard for potential health implications," Parent's Jury spokeswoman Nicole Horton said in a statement.
"It's not just TV being used to promote junk food to our children, as more food companies are now also using the internet as a marketing tool.
"Our children are being bombarded with clever marketing campaigns promoting junk food from all directions whilst the country faces a growing obesity epidemic."
But Kellogg's spokeswoman Rebecca Boustead said the ad was targeting mums, not children.
"It's all about giving mums information about LCMs as being a treat option that they can include in kids' lunch boxes if they want to," she told reporters.
"It's interesting that we've had that award because we have been very clearly wanting to give mums information about the foods that they give to their children.
"We have labelling on the front of the packs so mums are very aware of what's in the food. We also have the nutrition information panels on the sides of packs as well."
Boustead said she did not believe the ad placed treats above healthy food.
"We've been very careful to ensure we did have a balanced lunchbox there to illustrate the need for mums to give healthy foods to kids," she said.
"It's sometimes a little bit ironic that you're trying to do the right thing and then you're criticised for doing that."
Krispy Kreme was named the School Food Bully for infiltrating schools with unhealthy fundraising options, a title the company labelled "disappointing".
A Krispy Kreme spokeswoman said the company did not market in the school environment and schools had to approach them to hold a fundraiser.
She said the company understood moderation was the key and schools were limited to two fundraisers per year.
"It's incredibly disappointing," she said.
"We are an occasional treat that sometime people like to spoil themselves with."
McDonald's received the Techno Hack award for its Happy Meal website and also the Pester Power award for its Kung Fu Panda Happy Meal television ad.
The company declined to comment on the awards.
