As a kid there were numerous things in which I was exposed to and wanted as a result of advertising. Huge companies have set their focus on kids and it shows due to the abundance of things they have been selling and the profit they receive. Since kids are being targeted, the industries use things that will appeal to kids, catch their attention so to speak, and then the children will nag their parents for that particular thing. This is a good thing for the companies, but is it good for the kids? There have been many arguments and disagreements regarding this subject and there are differing viewpoints which make very good points both ways. Have industries gone too far or are they doing just the right amount of commercializing their products? …show more content…
Rowling as one of the ten most influential people in publishing” (Teare, 550). If you did not know, Mrs. Rowling is the author of a very popular series which is called Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a young boy who is taken to a magic school in order to pursue his career as a wizard in a place named Hogwartz. Elizabeth Teare, a graduate of Dayton University and a professor at Yale University, talks about how influential Harry Potter really is. As we all know, magic is not real and it can only be bought with your imagination. Surprisingly, there have been millions of people who love and enjoy the Harry Potter series especially kids. “Child readers, according to advocates of book culture, are better children then those who clamor for the newest video games” (Teare, page 550). I completely agree with that statement, kids now in days do not even pick up a book due to the impact video games has on them. The book had changed the game, causing kids to actually use their brain and imagine things that they may have never thought about. “’I don’t think they should make TV shows because then when you imagine stuff from the book, then it will be much different,’ says Sam Piazza, 10, of Silver Springs’” (Teare, page 551). A kid’s imagination is very important in my opinion and it shows a lot to how they are growing mentally and how they see everything in their own way. One cannot buy imagination, it must come from you not anyone …show more content…
Now in days when you want an answer to something, they google and it and do not even think about cracking open a book. Industries have in a way brainwashed kids to believe a certain thing when in reality it is not the way to think. Teare and Schlosser both provide two different views from the way kids are influenced into getting into buying something. Schlosser explains that industries use different gadgets to influence kids to buy that particular product, especially that of nagging to parents. If their child wants it they will most likely get nagged at until they buy the product they want. Teare shows a different problem with it, kids are now not focusing on reading and gaining knowledge through text books, but only play videogames or watch television. Kid consumers are effecting everything and they will continue to as long as companies are getting fed what they can to sell their
George Parker once said, “The only people who care about advertising are the people who work in advertising." Advertisers use many different techniques that target children and teens. Many people do not realize how harmful this can turn out to be. Advertising plays a harmful role in the lives of youth because it poses health risks, prevents children and teens from saving money, and exposes them to way too many ads.
One reason for this is because kids are easily influenced, and advertisers see it as a way to establish brand loyalty at an early age. I remember as a kid seeing really cool Coca-Cola advertisements. For some reason, I don’t remember Pepsi ads, so I always preferred Coke over Pepsi. This is good for the advertisers, because once a kid is loyal to a specific brand, they will most likely stick with that brand for their entire lives. For the kids, however, it’s not always a good thing. Exposure to so many advertisements can’t be good for them. In some cases, like the image of women in advertisements, it will change a person’s impression of certain things.
How Pharr off is Mary Pharr on the significance of the novel about Harry Potter? I believe very far off. I think the argument Pharr makes is not connected to the educational benefits of Harry Potter. Rather she argues the morality presented throughout Harry Potter by saying this is what all readers crave. “In Medias Res” by Mary Pharr is a response to critics’ critical analysis of the Harry Potter (HP) series’ ability to educate readers. After thinking and reading Mary Pharr’s text about the ‘educational value’ has concluded with few, if any educational benefits through Harry Potter. Though these lessons exist they are typically taught by parents not school, not quantitative skills or tools that are typically taught in schools,
Imagine discovering that you’re not an ordinary person, but a wizard with magnificent, magical powers. Imagine attending a school where you’ll study transfiguration and charms instead of trigonometry and chem. Imagine the thrill of flying across the sky on a broomstick. These adventures and many others are waiting to be experienced in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by novelist J. K. Rowling. This fanciful and entertaining tale has taken the youth of the nation by storm, and its sales have only been surpassed by the book’s sequels, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Harry Potter is now a global brand worth of an estimated $15 billion dollars, and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. The series, totalling 4,195 pages, has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages, ("Seventh Harry Potter Expected to Succeed”). Imagine a school in a castle filled with moving staircases, a sport played on flying broomsticks, an evil wizard intent on domination, an ordinary boy who’s the hero of a whole world he doesn’t know, (About the Series). This is the story that comes to life in the marvelous Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Voldemort, the dark wizard, attempts to kill baby Harry in order to prevent a prophecy. He fails and ends
The Harry Potter series, written by J. K. Rowling, is about a young boy who finds out he is a wizard and uses his magic powers to vanquish evil. The series is currently the target of many protestors, as they scrutinize and penalize the books for their creative and imaginative topics. Ranging from education to religion, protestors' reasoning's behind theses attacks have sparked nationwide debates. Everything from censorship to book burning, protesting and pulling theses books from school shelves, have been done to outlaw the Potter series. Elizabeth D. Schafer, author of "Harry and History", summarizes how these controversies stem forth and how she disagrees with the protests against the Potter series. Censorship of the Harry Potter books is a vain attempt to maintain control and power over citizens as their rights and freedom of choice is being severely violated by forbidding the viewing of certain sources of entertainment.
The Harry Potter series is a world filled with magic, adventures, and memorable quirky characters. All seven books by J.K. Rowling featuring Harry Potter the young boy wizard with a unique lightening scar and even more remarkable destiny continues to influence and inspire children and adults around the world. Rowling manages to balance humor and darker themes in the children’s books that allows for a wider range of audience to connect with the story. Themes such as death, love, sacrifice, prejudice, and good versus evil are major themes that occur throughout Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Since the first segment of the series was released in 1997, Harry Potter has been challenged by churches and parents due to the practicing of magic by children found within the books. The books have been removed from school shelves, discouraged by churches, and censored by parents. It is claimed that Harry Potter is devilish, satanic, and encourages children to practice the occult, damaging their religious views (LaFond). Therefore, many parents keep their children from reading the book series. Yet, Harry Potter has been such a positive influence on my so many lives. Evident through the movies, theme parks, stores, and much more, J.K. Rowling’s series has been an overwhelming success for many reasons (“Because it’s his…”). In order to encourage
From cartoon and sports to having the toys in meals in a huge display and lowered. There are even advertisements that trick adults. They are convincing, but it can all be stopped with just simple reminders that it’s not real or it’s not good to have this in your body. These reminders can help America become less obese and more health conscious and can even affect the way children think as they grow up surrounded by them. The United States is slowly increasing its awareness of the condition that it is in by companies improving foods and people paying more attention to the nutrition’s in foods. Also many food companies have died down on television advertising for kids, but it is still found in other expressed ways. While it is okay to advertise the question of is it okay to advertise to children is still not answered. It all depends on the consumers what is right and wrong and how to approach each product. Obesity from these products can be cured by hard exercise, but this is not recommended for children. It is more efficient for children to just eat healthy as they are still growing each day. So the next time an ad pops up on the screen and that little girl or boy is focused on it try to explain to them by reading the ingredients or the nutrition label why they should not eat it often. With small steps like these children
Ever since J.K. Rowling first introduced Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 1997, children and adults have read and loved the series. It has gained such popularity that all of the books have been made into major motion pictures, and a Harry Potter attraction has been opened in Universal Studios, Florida. Though the readers love Rowling’s intricate and exciting story lines, many controversies have arisen from these stories, not only in the United States, but also in various countries around the world. Perhaps the biggest controversy is the religious implications perceived by some critics. Although these critics believe that the series promotes paganism and encourages evil actions, these theories should not be taken so seriously.
One of the most read series in all literature is Harry Potter. The seven-book succession has sold over 400 million copies and has been translated into over sixty languages. What is it that makes this series so wildly famous? What is it about the boy who lived that makes frenzied readers flock to their local bookstore at midnight on the day of the release to buy the latest installment? How is a story set in a world that doesn’t exist about wizards, witches, magic, and mystical creatures so popular? The series has been able to earn its spot on the New York Times Bestseller list and has granted author J.K. Rowling multiple awards because it is relatable. It is not the setting or the events in the plot of the story that we relate to. We relate to what Harry, his friends, mentors, teachers, caretakers, and even enemies feel. Harry is in a lot of ways exactly like us. He represents some of the good characteristics that all of us have as well as the bad. The series as a whole, is about one thing that is stressed over and over again in the novels, love. The Harry Potter series is one of the most read sequences of novels because the central theme is love and self-sacrifice, and readers are looking for a novel that shows them just that.
Harry Potter is adored by children of all ages, along with adults, for his witty humor and fantasy adventures. Children crave his friendship and magic powers. The first three books were on the New York Times bestseller lists before New York Times decided to split up the list into children's and adults' books because of Harry Potter's popularity (Gray par. 2). Harry Potter won the Parenting Book of the Year Award in 1998, and the 1997 National Book Award (Ballard par. 6). Harry Potter has swept through the world causing controversy over the positive and negative impacts the books are having on children. Although some people claim that Harry Potter is Satanic, Harry Potter has had a positive influence on children's literature because children are learning good values, a positive role model, and are reading more.
Rowling’s writing sparks controversy with readers. Rowling has dealt with criticism about how her books teach children about witchcraft and evil powers (Kirk 103). To shield children from these teachings, schools and libraries across the world banned the books and occasionally, a book burning. “It conflicts with the values I’m trying to teach my children,” reports Ken McCormick, a father (qtd in Cannon and Cataldo). Evidently, the series’ plot teaches children revenge, and parents and teachers across the globe agree that banning the books will protect them from harmful lessons. However, her works have encouraged children read more. Today, fewer children and teens read for pleasure, causing a great drop in test scores, vocabulary, and imagination (Hallet). According to U.K.-based Federation of Children’s Book Groups, fifty nine percent of kids believe that Harry Potter enhanced their reading skills, and forty eight percent say that the books turned them in to bookworms (Hallet). In other words, Rowling’s books became children’s, in this day of age, video games. She published Harry Potter at a time where children, teens, and young adults were starting to consume their time with technology instead of reading. Without these books, generations across the spectrum would diminish in terms of reading skill. Rowling not only helps children improve their skills, she gives back to them through her
... Dittman also stated that “the average child is bombarded with more than 40,000 TV. commercials a year” (Dittman, 2004). The campaigns shown on TV persuade children to feel that They desperately need the product and that they have to nag their parents into buying it. product for them, or they will be left out of the cool crowd.
As a little girl I loved watching television shows on Saturday mornings. I’d get upset when a show would proceed to commercial. That is until I watched the shiny new toy being played with by the girl my age and of course the cool new one that came into the happy meal, then I’d forget. After seeing the appealing commercial I’d run to my mom and try to slickly mention it. “You know McDonalds has a new Monster’s Inc. toy in their happy meal. Isn’t that great? “Now I realize that back then I was targeted by big companies to beg my parents for things that I didn’t need or that wasn’t good for me in order to make money. Advertising today is affecting the health of today’s children because they eat the unhealthy foods advertised to them on: television, the internet, and even at school. Therefore, an impassioned discussion of possible solutions has been brewing.