Page 1: The day was boring. Other than a snack of carrots, there had been no excitement for Agu Gugu. He wanted to just play with toys in his room, but even that did not seem to be an option. Opening the door to his room, Gugu 's mother looked back at him.
Eric Schlosser, the author of “Kid Kustomers”, puts a spotlight on the marketing on children. He starts off by talking about the effect on present day marketing. Companies like phone, oil, and automobile are targeting the children the most. He argues that kid-based companies weren’t that bad in the past, but now there are tons of companies who only focus on children. He has provided a lot of studies that support his explanation on marketing strategies.
The founding fathers of fast food giants, including Ray Kroc and Walt Disney, were among the first to develop and focus on marketing to children. In a response about advertising Schlosser shows just how knowledgeable they were, “Hoping that nostalgic childhood memories of a brand will lead to a lifetime of purchases, companies now plan ‘cradle-to-grave’ advertising strategies. They have come to believe what Ray Kroc and Walt Disney realized long ago -- a person's ‘brand loyalty’ may begin as early as the age of two”(43). Schlosser explains how Ray Kroc and Walt Disney purposefully targeted children to build loyal customers. Their intent was to attract children so that they would drive their parents to take them to fast food restaurants.
Advertisers will always try to target the younger audience since there is more of them other than the older audience. When kids see something bright or hear something repetitive then the kids will remember it which causes them to end up buying the product when in the store. Parents want what's right for their kids so if the kid really wants that cereal or item the parents will buy it so the kids requests will be fulfilled. In the ad when saying part of a delicious breakfast, then parents will immediately wanna buy the product because they want their child to be healthy.
Many advertisements target a specific group of consumers whether it be classified through gender, age group, or those that share similar interests. Companies try to create advertisements that leave a lasting impression of a certain product so that it can resonate in a consumer’s mind. Often, companies shape an advertisement based on the type of customers they want to attract. For example, McDonald 's, a fast food chain is likely to target children than adults. By attracting children, there is a likely chance that the children will will insist their parents or grandparents to bring them to the restaurant, which ultimately for the restaurant is about making thrice the profit.
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.
The commercials on the television, the advertisements placed on newspapers and the banners by big conglomerates have one thing in common: They are mostly geared towards children. Chapter 2 of the book Fast Food Nation, written by Eric Schlosser provides a history of two big American companies, McDonalds and Disney, and how their selfish desires led to marketing directed towards children. Schlosser’s central idea and usage of argumentative techniques along with bias define this chapter’s purpose as an educational work designed to reveal the antics of big money corporations. The central idea of this chapter is focused solely on the greed and selfishness of big corporations as they try to advance their business and gain profits while being
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.
All research and argumentative writers use the tenets of rhetoric to persuade their readers that their point of view is correct. Eric Schlosser uses ethos to convince readers that American fast-food made dramatic impacts on advertising. In “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal”, “Years ago sociologist Vance Packard described children as ‘surrogate salesmen’ who had to persuade other people, usually their parents, to buy what they wanted. Marketers now use different terms to explain the intended response to their ads — such as ‘leverage,’ ‘the nudge factor,’ ‘pester power.’ The aim of most children’s advertising is straightforward: get kids to nag their parents and nag them well.”
The farmers are treated poorly by the big name companies. The health in the United States is declining severely, 16% of children are obese,have diabetes, and other major health problems. In David Barboza’s article, “If You Pitch It, They Will Eat It,” Barboza argues that big name food companies are targeting the youth of society, because they will watch a show on television and see the food products at the store with their favorite character on the packaging. But the food that is being marketed to the youth is unhealthy for the human body.
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.
Parents usually blame the advertisements that pass on television promoting junk food and believe that it is persuading the child to buy or consume the product that is been promoted. But in reality the advertisement is for the parents but and the parent will take the decision if it is good for their kids. When they show the image of the product on television the image might seem really appetite that would convince someone to go and buy the product. That is the person 's opinion of course and yeah eat in a fast food restaurant is not a bad thing but some people don 't the the damage it can make the body. There have been people who eat everyday out and in two weeks gain more than 5 pounds and their cholesterol raises.
This statement is so true because when my little brother sees toys or junk food on television he immediately begs my parents to buy either one for him. The majority of commercials during programs aimed at children are for unhealthy high-fat, high sugars or high-salt foods with little nutritional value. Not all parents are aware of how their children are exposed to marketing campaigns that influence their children. Some top food choices for kids attack kids by their appealing commercials. The commercials use bright colors, a funny icon cartoon character, older kids, and catchy phrases.
Parents need to get their children moving in sake of their health. If a parent decides to fed their children cheap fast food than they better have the knowledge that it is unhealthy and needs to motivate their children to do some form of daily exercise. It does not hurt to get their children running out in the background or going swimming in the public pool with all the other kids for at least an hour. Parents need to be more responsible to motivate their children to practice healthy exercising habits so they can live a healthy life.
According to Nassar & Zien (2012) who analyzed the effects of TV ads on children in the middle east, “children pay more attention to what they see rather than to what they only hear” (p.268). Hence, fast food advertisers take this opportunity to their advantage by designing advertisements with many visual triggers along with a nice food packaging and a great displaying of the product. A study about the effects of food ads on children and parents found that the majority of children in a sample size of 75 favored to have the unhealthy advertised food item they saw on TV than a
