The media has always been a big impact on society, influencing people in so many ways. It keeps us in on the latest fashion trends, gadgets, and what is considered “in”. The media can be considered either be considered positive and negative, but that can usually be determined by society. The group that is usually very heavily influenced on the media are teens. They tend to believe whatever the media says and displays, causing them to behave, dress, speak, talk, and think in a different manner. Even though the media can be considered social networks and blogs, teens usually set their youth lifestyle according to what kind of music they listen to and reality shows they watch. Children are commonly the most group to be very easily influenced, because they like to imitate whatever they see. During the early years of a child, usually between the toddler to teen ages children spend a lot of time watching TV and listening to music, but the teen years are where they are influenced by others, believe that whatever their friends say is correct and that the advice their parents gives is incorrect. From the advice given from their friends on what they believe is right, they go by what is commonly know as “monkey see, monkey do”.
This helps widen the idea of just how many ways children and teens can be affected by advertisements not just by making them more accessible but making them a part of what this society is. By making their products a part of the child’s life they are allowing the product to become a norm in the life of a child.
Even though advertising was meant to simply convey information about specific products, this goal seems to have been encroached over the years. Most advertisements today are targeted at children. Even though some of the products marketed to children have negative effects on them, they are still being advertised. An example of such products is junk food. Junk food usually contain alot of fats and sugars, which, when continuously consumed, negatively affect the normal functioning of the body. In spite of its malignant effects, junk food is, moreover advertised in ways that appeal more to children. Kids are therefore coerced into buying the harmful food, which puts their health at risk. Advertising junk foods has led to the increased health problems in children.
Today teens and adolescents are exposed to more advertisements than ever before at 40,000 per year on television commercials alone. But what are the main issues of advertising, and how is this causing children to make poor choices? Devious advertisements are part of everyday life ranging everywhere from video game ads to cartoon characters on a cereal box. Excessive advertising to children is harmful, unhealthy, and must be regulated.
When it comes to commercials on TV, people think of the cola wars between Pepsi and Coca-Cola, or maybe they think of the famous Energizer bunny. However, there are also commercials for beer and cigarettes. These are items that could be fatal in some cases. Yet, these items are advertised on TV for teenagers to see. Commercials for beer or cigarettes aren’t to pursue just adults, but to pursue adolescents as well. The tobacco companies and alcohol
Shapiro, Jeremy F. “Sex and Television: The Impact on Our Children” Daily Strength (Nov. 2008) Web. 12 Apr. 2011
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.
Did you know that there is a larger youth being affected by health problems because of advertising than there are with tobacco related problems? Cartoon figures such as Ronald McDonald are influencing children’s decisions about the food they are consuming because children are not able to differentiate between the truth and advertising. This conveys that advertisers are taking advantage of children. Clearly, advertising has a more negative impact on children. In addition, it also causes obesity. Another reason why ads are negative is because it leads to diabolical diseases in youths. Furthermore, it influences a child's psychology. Advertising certainly impacts children in an extremely terrible way.
By graduation, it is estimated that students will have watched 25,000 hours of television, and 356,000 commercials. (Davis & Pallodino,1997) All these hours result in learning through observation and conditioning. They, along with other agents, make us who we are. Advertisers and the media achieve their goal by sneaking into the viewers mind and showing things that are comfortable and familiar and they can especially invade the minds of children whose are completely innocent. Essentially, they have a job to do, and know how to do it.
Advertising is harmful to children, not because “Advertising is about choices-nothing else” (Kurnit), but because unlike adults children are far too impressionable and therefore need guidance so that such advertisement does not negatively influence the choices children make for their future. However, even the parent of the year would not be able to stop their child from being negatively influenced by the “ more than 25,000 advertisements a year” (Levin 51) children witness. Wether it be the food and beverage marketing industry that “is associated with increasing obesity rates” (Lang 339), or the tobacco manufactures who spend “$30 million/day (11.2 billion/year) on advertising and promotion” (Padley 3), or all the toys that are hocked on television and the internet, such advertisement “has an immense impact on the impressionable minds of the your generation” (Pandey 1.)