For my first entry I want to talk about how advertising affects children of all ages. Advertising today, exploits children by making them materialistic and luring them towards habits that affect their lifestyles negatively.
According to Susan Linn, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and renowned author, advertisements appeal to a person’s emotions and not their intellect. As children don’t possess a developed intellect, they are more vulnerable to the persuasive nature of ads and so they are obviously the ‘darlings’ of corporate advertisers. Children of all ages; teens, pre teens, toddlers and even infants who can’t understand much around them are an excellent commercial opportunity for advertisers. All kinds of products from burgers to minivans that are intended to be advertised to parents are in fact indirectly advertised to children. On an average a child sees about 40000 commercials in a year on television alone so it is inevitable for them to be influenced by ads. Popular television shows for kids like Teletubbies and Clifford the Big Red Dog advertise fast food of corporations like Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Chuck E. Cheese who lure kids with happy meals, toys and candy shaped like their favorite superheroes. Kids are enticed by these advertisements and end up wanting to have food that they don’t realize is unhealthy for them. These television shows and movies also advertise their paraphernalia to all kids. Harry Potter is not just a series of books and movies anymore. It is a brand of monumental proportions selling anything that one can possibly imagine including candy, costumes, socks, shirts, backpacks, calendars, duffel bags, puzzles, board games, computer games; the list is endless and with each movie the franchise and product line keep expanding.
Teens are a marketer’s dream come true. Marketers and advertisers make use of the confusion, rebellion and insecurity that is the essence of adolescence. Plastic unachievable beauty that is only realizable through airbrushing, professional lighting and Photoshop, is shown as accessible in advertisements. Teens that are going through puberty and face self esteem issues are highly influenced by shampoo ads that could give them “perfect shiny hair” or an ad for a skin care cream that could give them flawless acne free skin in just three weeks. They are manipulated to believe that buying all these products could enhance their looks and make them happier. Marketers know what teens fancy- being popular, looking perfect- they give them the idea that that their fantasies could be reality if they buy the products sold by the marketers.
The video attached is a short but powerful video that gives a gist of what an average pre-teen girl would see in the media today. A recommended watch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnJQJFlyDGY&feature=related
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