In the essay “Kid Kustomers” by Eric Schlosser, Schlosser discusses children advertising and its effectiveness. About twenty-five years ago, hardly any American company marketed towards children unlike today where the majority is directed towards children. According to an expert this era was known as “the decade of the child consumer.” Ad agencies implemented children into marketing in order to increase “consumption.” The Joe Camel ad campaign revealed how effortlessly children were impacted by ads, claiming it to be as well known as “Mickey Mouse.”
In Eric Schlosser‘s essays, the author shows how the social media are targeting children by their ads and advertisements. He exposes the negative side of advertising especially when children are implicated. The author explores children’s cooperation with these companies whether consciously or unconsciously through their behavior and ways of convincing their parents to get them what they want. He mentions how these same parents by lack of spending enough time with kids pamper them and don’t refuse their desires. Schlosser gives more explanations by introducing several examples of these companies such as Disney, McDonald, clothes, oil, and phone companies, too without openly blaming neither of them.
How Advertising is Leading Kids to Make Poor Choices Currently, the average American child today is exposed to an estimated 40,000 television commercials a year, over 100 a day. Advertisers try to expose children and teens to as much advertising as possible, this is to get children and teens to want to buy their products. Another factor is that advertisers use different techniques to get kids to buy their products, these techniques include bandwagon, transfer, avant-garde, facts and figures, and testimonials. Yet, children don’t realize they are being subjected to these techniques and with all the advertisements that kids are being exposed to today, these advertisements are leading kids to make poor choices. “Television, radio, cable, and
A few minutes of using technology may influence young ones to be overly attached to technology. One that uses technology at a young age will always look up to technology
As a parent and former retail store manager, I am not at all surprised by the content of this video and I don't see how anyone else would be either. Actually, I believe this video is by far out dated because today's parents of young children grew up with the same type of marketing directed at them. "Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood" examines the practices of pervasive marketing techniques directed at young children arguing it is more insidious than just trying to sell products to today's youth. The video looks at the many different methods used to directly market to children successfully. Marketing avenues include not only television, but cell phones, social networking sites, games and even our school systems.
‘It 's not just about getting kids to whine,’ one marketer explained in Selling to Kids, “it 's giving them a specific reason to ask for the product” (Schlosser 43). McDonald’s advertisements, for example, clearly have a straightforward aim: target children. They create an environment that children would enjoy; this includes the creation of Ronald and the decoration of the restaurant with fun, playful objects. Advertisers are so concerned about creating an impactful, meaningful ad that they spend time analyzing the specific age group they are working with. Schlosser evaluates the seven major nagging techniques that accompany most children’s request to buy something or go somewhere.
Furthermore, as a kid there are boundless activeness and things to do as time flies. However, today young kids have unlimited access to internet, television, apps and games. Children don’t spend much time playing games and constructing with blocks or going outside to play to create new games. In the article of “Marketing to Children Drowns out Innovation” by Susan Linn, the director of the Campaign for a Commercial-free childhood, suggests that children need toys that come without instructions as an act of causes kids to form their own ideas to promote originality in kids at an early age. She states, “Children also play less creatively with kits - construction sets or packed art projects designed to achieve one specific end result.”
Modern Americans are still motivated to spend on various products, whether they are useful and necessary or not, as the result of powerful mass advertising campaigns, widely broadcast through many forms of media. Children and young adults are usually the main targets for such campaigns. It is estimated that the average American child watches between 25,000 to 40,000 television commercials per year so advertising undeniably has a great power over the young minds, who in turn would influence their parents and guardians (Shah, 2010). More than 30 billion dollars are spent by families every year as the result of this strategy, which is progressively adapted by many companies (Shah, 2010). Additionally, thanks to these advertisements, people pay more attention to keeping up with the current trend, with what is considered the most up to date rather than the overall necessity of the product.
Dan Freeman and Stewart Shapiro’s article “Tweens’ Knowledge of Marketing Tactics Skeptical Beyond Their Years” concentrates on the various marketing tactics used to influence tweens and how effective they are. Freeman and Shapiro believe that marketing tactics such as advertising through cell phones, movies, video games, famous people, sporting events, cartoons, television shows, local shops, web journals, online chats, and popular kids are not realized by tweens (Freeman and Shapiro 48). This argument is questionable because it is based on the fact that all tweens have access to these marketing tactics, and that they are unaware of the types of marketing tactics and how they are used at this age. Freeman and Shapiro have completed a somewhat
Since the realization that children are a huge marketing group, many advertisers have shifted their campaigns to appeal to children's interests. Although critics of marketing to children cite the ability of such advertisements to influence childhood obesity, the reality is that advertisements geared towards children serve to promote positive behavior in children and impact the choices parents make. In the present day, many commercials on television advertise toys, food, and behaviors to children. Through the truth campaign, the American Legacy Foundation aims to positively impact the behavior of children towards smoking.
Kids can be taught that what’s on an ad isn’t necessarily what they need.” At the end, marketers must maintain an appropriate structure or strategy without using people in a bad way. If it’s possible for a child being obsessed with a toy and food box, then it’s possible for him to like a sweet fruit box with an interesting book or comics, magazines etc. if we can support or teach them. We must accept that healthy food, exercising, protecting environment, enjoying beautiful sides of life, even choosing the best music or watching the proper advertisement - they are the best solutions for a good future even though they may be hard for some people to adapt.
Over the past twenty years, the amount at which advertisers are advertising to children is astonishing. Advertising directed towards children has estimated at over 15 million annually that’s almost three times more than what it was 26 years ago! Toy companies, fast food places, and retail stores are very eager to target children-maybe even a little too eager. Advertisers are consciously targeting children. Most advertisers are targeting children because they're easier to get hooked on a product.
Major companies are trying to take our money , and trying to influence our children life style aswell. For example; food, not just any food, but the one of the most greasy and fattening foods on the market, another key factor to keep in mind is that, these companies are trying to put faces on these certain products , such as, Spongebob. Spongebob was on the cover of a macaroni and cheese box, and since it was put on the lower shelves the box was easy to spot by children. But one of the most important thing about children being advertising is that certain foods that kids want are so fattening that is can cause life threatening diseases like diabetes or in some major cases cancer. One of these key factors being that these major companies such
Using the “Four Ps” of marketing Product, Place, Price, and Promotion, advertisers use paid public presentations of goods and services in a variety of media to influence consumers’ attention to, and interest in, purchasing certain products. Television has long been the medium of advertising to children and youth. Children view approximately 40,000 advertisements each year. The products marketed to children, sugar-coated cereals, fast food restaurants, candy, and toys have remained relatively constant over time. But marketers are now directing these same kinds of products to children
The current study is the effects of exposure to technology on young children. As we become increasingly more reliant and absorbed in technology, it is no surprise that today’s children have become avid users as well (Hatch, 2011). Children at the age of three or four already have tablets, smart phones, and others; they could easily attain technologies and would even demand for one. As it makes easier for us, technology has both positive and negative impacts especially on young children. It comes with great opportunities but these opportunities likewise come with great risk
