Effects Of Advertising On Children

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.

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.

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.

In the quest to get the advertised product, children tend to pester their parents to buy them such products. Children’s capacity to comprehend advertisements Research

In Schlosser’s article, “Kid Kustomers” the main argument is that major ad agencies are focusing to much time advertising to children. He uses multiple topics and threads to portray the negative effects of marketing to children. Using the example of Fast Food industries partnering up with toy companies to appeal to the younger consumer and goes into the effects the children have on their parents as a consumer. Using the example of fast food Industries backs up his claim when marketing to children can be bad. Fast food companies are already unhealthy and when they paired up with big toy companies the influence on the child is even greater.

Today McDonald’s has many more competitors such as; Carl’s Jr., Sonic, Chick-Fil-A and Burger King, which now provides kid’s meals with toys. Parents are infuriated by the fact that the free toy is making their children want the unhealthy food, yet they feel obligated to buy the meal to make their child happy. Though these children are still more interested in the popular the toy and will beg their parents to buy the meal from the fast food industry. Nevertheless many parents have stood up against the toys in their child’s meal. In Santa Clara, California there has been a banment of toys in children's meals.

Business owners know that a child can get their guardian to buy them fast food if they advertise it in ways that kids are highly attracted to. This includes adding toys to happy meals and putting play places in or by the restaurants because “‘playlands bring in children, who bring in parents, who bring in money’” (Schlosser, 2001, p. 47). All of this advertisement towards children prompted businesses such as soft drink marketers to begin advertising within school buildings. Pop machines were added and fast food restaurants even began offering lunches in the cafeterias for students to purchase.

‘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.

Steingraber’s experiment effectively argues that advertisements can impact a child’s view towards food by appealing to her readers’ emotions (pathos), logic (logos), uses an engaging tone,

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.

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.

Advertising is a form of propaganda that plays a huge role in society and is readily apparent to anyone who watches television, listens to the radio, reads newspapers, uses the internet, or looks at a billboard on the streets and buses. The effects of advertising begin the moment a child asks for a new toy seen on TV or a middle aged man decides he needs that new car. It is negatively impacting our society. To begin, the companies which make advertisements know who to aim their ads at and how to emotionally connect their product with a viewer. For example, “Studies conducted for Seventeen magazine have shown that 29 percent of adult women still buy the brand of coffee they preferred as a teenager, and 41 percent buy the same brand of mascara”

10 Apr. 2017. The author, Sarah Boseley is a health editor for “The Guardian News and Media”. This article is primarily intended for people who have children. This article displays the ongoing battle that parents are going through to fight child obesity with advertisers promoting unhealthy drinks and foods to children through online games, Facebook, and television ads, although, programs that are mostly watched by children; advertisers are banned from promoting unhealthy foods and drinks.

There is Ronald McDonald, the Big Mac song, Happy Meals, and play areas. They see these items on the television or other electronic devices and immediately ask their parents if they will bring them to the highly addictive restaurant. In an attempt to stop franchises like McDonald’s from targeting young minors in their advertisements, parents need to restrict television and cell phone use for their progenies. Parents need to restrict usage because of the health risks involved, the incentives that come along with it, and the high amounts of advertisements.