A new trend has emerged in consumerism throughout the last couple of years. The increase in the marketing of cell phones to children has risen dramatically. Phone companies are realizing that parents are becoming more willing to buy cell phones for their kids. Major telecommunications providers, as well as companies that are well known names in the toy industry, are marketing cell phones in any way that will make children want them. The companies take notice of the actions of parents and how they react to their children wanting a cell phone to determine what works in terms of advertising campaigns. Companies marketing cell phones are deliberately manipulating the rift between children wanting cell phones without knowing the risks and parents who are not aware of the complications of a child owning a cell phone for his or herself. Popular toy companies such as Mattel and Disney have been marketing phones for children for a number of years. While the aim is to keep children protected, the underlying outcome is the same; children beg for yet another “toy” that they are not yet old enough for. It works because the companies selling them are well known for producing fast-selling and trendy children’s toys. Children simply push a cell phone into the toy category in their minds. The mind of a child however has yet to become fully developed, so “they don’t necessarily have the understanding of the ways of the commercial world possessed by most adults.” (Advertising Standards Authority) Children simply see there is something that they want and believe that they should have it. Commercials for children’s cell phones use bright colors, upbeat, happy music and show images of other children using the cell phone to draw children in. Other ads... ... middle of paper ... ...ads/CMPAAA_A4.pdf> "Children and Advertising." Advertising Standards Authority. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. Carvajal, Doreen. "Concern in Europe on Cell phone Ads for Children." The New York Times. 8 Mar. 2008. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. Petrecca, Laura. "Cell Phone Marketers Calling All Preteens." USA Today. Gannett, 5 Sept. 2005. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. Olsen, Stefanie. "When to Buy Your Child a Cell phone." The New York Times. 9 June 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. "Cell Phones." CMCH.tv. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.
In the article “Kids Kustomers” by Eric Schlosser, Schlosser talks about the big idea of kids and advertisements. Ads for children have a great influence because they are everything to a child and eye catching. Schlosser has points that focus on how children get what they want when they see an ad or even a toy on the shelf. As he states the pester power or even just using one the seven kinds of naggings He also touches on the subject that when parents are occupied from their busy schedules they have that sense of guilt towards a child, since they have little to no time they shower them with toys or what they want. Instead of having a control with how children are exposed to seeing ads on a tv children are being overly exposed to technology
Kids these days are constantly looking to get the next best thing, or act how the “popular” people would act. In the article “Commodifying Kids: The Forgotten Crisis,” Giroux talks about the affects the media market is having on children of today. The media is “brainwashing” kids into buying their products and catching them while they are young. The children of today are measuring their worth by the things they own or the way they act, which is largely due in part to the media market. While I do agree with Giroux on how the media market is to blame for the strong influence of children, I also think that the parents should share some of the blame for giving into their child’s desires and buying and encouraging them to get the top products.
In the documentary Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood and Argument—Yes! Children need Protection..., media critic Hoerrner and marketing various marketers’ state that marketers sell children's product, not values. Consequently, marketers teach values of self-worth and deceiving in order to sell their product. These values that children learn are like fingerprints, no two children will have gotten the same message from ads. Values children learn come from the American Mantra as Velma Lapoint point out from the documentary that “you are what buy...own...if you don’t have it you are less than...a nobody”. This powerful statement tells children that if they do not have a product they are worthless (Lapoint 16). Marketing advertisements
Any agency that uses children for marketing schemes spend hundreds of billions dollars each year world wide persuading and manipulating consumer’s lifestyles that lead to overindulgence and squandering. Three articles uncover a social problem that advertising companies need to report about. In his research piece “Kid Kustomers” Eric Schlosser considers the reasons for the number of parents that allow their children to consume such harmful foods such as ‘McDonalds’. McDonalds is food that is meant to be fast and not meant to be a regular diet. Advertising exploits children’s needs for the wealth of their enterprise, creating false solutions, covering facts about their food and deceiving children’s insecurities. It contains dissatisfaction that leads to over consumption. Children are particularly vulnerable to this sort of manipulation, American Psychological Association article, “Youth Oriented Advertising” reveals the facts upon the statics on consumers in the food industries. The relationship that encourages young children to adapt towards food marketing schemes, make them more vulnerable to other schemes, such as, advertising towards clothing, toys and cars. Article writer of “The relationship between cartoon trade character recognition and attitude toward product category in young children”, Richard Mizerski, discusses a sample that was given to children ages three to six years old, about how advertising incurs young children that are attracted too certain objects or products on the market.
Commercials make the viewer think about the product being advertised. Because of the amount of television children watch throughout the week, it allows the children to be exposed to the information over and over again. Per year, children are known to view thousands of fast food commercials. On a daily basis, a teen will usually view five advertisements and a child aged six to eleven will see around four advertisements (Burger Battles 4). Businesses use this strategy to “speak directly to children” (Ruskin 3). Although the big businesses in the fast ...
Corporations cause grave concern through aggressive marketing ads because they hope to inflict “nostalgic childhood memories of a brand that will lead to a lifetime of purchases because companies now plan ‘cradle-to-grave’ advertising strategies” (43). Children, before they have a sense of identity, are already being manipulated into believing that status and self worth are associated with materialistic ideas or wealth. This advertising is applied to all aspects of life, not just junk food consumption. Companies and corporations have been targeting children because of their vulnerability, causing “the FTC’s proposed ban, which was supported by American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, and the Child Welfare League” (46). This ban against advertising is necessary for the future health of America, but was attacked and rejected by vicious businesses, who are preoccupied with their monetary gains. A professional organization composed of pediatric medical doctors, who spend their lives improving the health and wellbeing of children, support the television ad ban on children. Therefore, it is unquestionable how wrong it is for these enormous corporations to exploit the naivety of
“Consuming Kids” is a documentary produced by Media Education Foundation in 2008, on how corporations are taking over our childhood. Kids are becoming targets to the marketplace. Major advertisement corporations are using their marketing on children in a harmful way. Some of these harmful ways include medical issues, the influence on body image, and lack of desire to play outside. This matters, because of our future youth. Advertisements are a domino effect on society.
...ad, whether it’s a toy when they were younger, a cell phone such as the iPhone as they aged, or a car when you get older. Ads are always telling us that we need to buy and our eyes seem to be telling us that everyone has one and that you need one too. Commercials can be very convincing; they can make you feel that your life would be much simpler if you had that specific product. The fact that everybody seems to have it will just add on the pressure of not having it. The suggestions made by commercials are mostly to benefit the sellers not the consumers. It is important to consider when those advertisements are trying to influence you.
I know it can be hard but try to remember when we were kids how much we all loved to wake up early on Saturday morning, sneak to the T.V., and watch our favorite cartoons. We loved to do this not only so that we could see our favorite characters go through troublesome dilemmas each episode, but also that we could see what was new on the market and try to convince our parents to spare a few dollars and buy it. This tactic has been used from years upon years and will likely continue occurring for the simple reason that it works. Businessmen in the marketing know that kids will see the latest and greatest thing and insist to their parent that they must have it. And with a little persistence and maybe a temper tantrum or two, they usually get it. Sometime commercials will appeal to not only the child, but also to parents because they can see the new toys that they are able to buy for their kids. Because there is always a constant demand for new toys, there will always be a entrepreneur trying to make money by creating a product, and market it in the way of commercialization. It is a never ending cycle which will always occur as long as there is T.V. because it is how they make their money.
When my boys were little, the commercials on television were such an intrusive force in our home I actually shut the cable off for about ten years. I’m not going to lie, there were times at Christmas and birthdays that I wish I had that marketing because they really didn’t have a wish list. They really didn’t ask for anything. I turned on the television when my girls were little and 9/11 happened. It was such a scary time and I needed to stay informed. The girls grew up with the advertising the boys didn’t. The contrast was I witnessed was first hand. They wanted a pillow pet, moon sand, and let’s not forget the WII because then they were going to get exercise while playing with that one. My girls fell hook, line, and sinker for those colorful fast moving
According to Rocker- Gladen, while attempting to teach her students about consumerism, one recurring comment students normally make about consumerism, it is their parents’ responsibility to monitor their exposure to consumerism. This alarming fact is that not every child has parents whom are actively involved in their child’s development. Turkle emphasized that by parents giving their kids cell phones this can lead them to developing a new state of dependence. Instead of the youth seeking their parent’s advice about their ideas and attitudes, they are more likely resort to their inexperienced peers. This is as a result of the “always on, always contented” communication culture that is being the...
Children learn their consuming behavior as they observe their parents’ actions. “Researchers find evidence of intergenerational influence when they study the product choices of mothers and their daughters”. (Solomon, 2011) Because parents are the most important influencer in the consumer development process, smartphones have to first be convincing for parents to carry them, in order for kids to be exposed to them, and eventually own them. Passing down product preference from generation to another promotes brand loyalty. Marketing strategies approach adults in a different way they approach children. Marketers should highlight to the parents the positive effect of the smartphone on the child and the parents themselve...
The land of the free, brave and consumerism is what the United States has become today. The marketing industry is exploiting children through advertisement, which is ridiculously unfair to children. We are around advertisement and marketing where ever we go; at times, we don't even notice that we are being targeted to spend our money. As a matter of fact, we live to buy; we need and want things constantly, and it will never stop. The film, Consuming Kids , written by Adriana Barbaro and directed by Jeremy Earp, highlights children as this powerful demographic, with billions of dollars in buying power, but the lack of understanding of marketers’ aggressive strategies. Children are easily influenced and taken advantage of, which is why commercialization of children needs to stop. Commercialization to children leads to problems that parents do not even know are happening such as social, future, and rewired childhood problems. Government regulations need to put a stop to corporations that live, breathe and sell the idea of consumerism to children and instead show that genuine relationships and values are what are important.
Across America in homes, schools, and businesses, sits advertisers' mass marketing tool, the television, usurping freedoms from children and their parents and changing American culture. Virtually an entire nation has surrendered itself wholesale to a medium for selling. Advertisers, within the constraints of the law, use their thirty-second commercials to target America's youth to be the decision-makers, convincing their parents to buy the advertised toys, foods, drinks, clothes, and other products. Inherent in this targeting, especially of the very young, are the advertisers; fostering the youth's loyalty to brands, creating among the children a loss of individuality and self-sufficiency, denying them the ability to explore and create but instead often encouraging poor health habits. The children demanding advertiser's products are influencing economic hardships in many families today. These children, targeted by advertisers, are so vulnerable to trickery, are so mentally and emotionally unable to understand reality because they lack the cognitive reasoning skills needed to be skeptical of advertisements. Children spend thousands of hours captivated by various advertising tactics and do not understand their subtleties.
Children between four and eight don’t recognize that ads are paid commercials intended to convince them into buying something. Children see about 6,000 advertis...