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My niece, aged seven, went back to school this week. It is 7:30 am, Tuesday morning and before she could wake to her Little Mermaid alarm clock, playing the song, ‘Under the Sea’, her Tamagotchi starts to cry. She pushes her Sponge Bob Square Pants doona cover back, and hops out of bed wearing her Tweety Bird pyjamas. Whilst eating her sugary breakfast cereal, she plays with her new Disney character figurine. There are six to collect. Her brother is whinging, but he knows he’ll get the toy ‘next time’. My niece then jumps into the bath and gets in a solid five minute play, not only with her new toy, but with the vast array of My Little Pony merchandise she owns. Dressed in her uniform (with Mary-Kate and Ashley bra worn underneath), she then cleans her teeth, using her Winnie the Pooh toothbrush and sparkly Tinkerbelle paste. She heads off to school, wearing her Pocahontas sandals and backpack, with Pokémon cards in hand and glossy lip balm in pocket. (Alexander and Dichter n.d.)
Such commercialism is everywhere around us – in the home, at the shops, at school… Many are concerned about the negative effects this is having on children. A topical issue of worry is advertising to children and how it has influenced education, body image, materialistic values among children, violence, an unhealthy diet and the epidemic of ‘kids are getting older younger’.
Many believe that marketing to children is unethical and is the cause of many problems among children. This article simply presents the many areas of concern and gives examples to help us understand the anxiety.
Education
Advertising is everywhere and the schoolyard has been invaded. It could be said that it is the biggest ad space of all.
A child from approximately five to twelve years of age, are in their primary school years. This is the time where foundations in educational subjects such as mathematics, English and science are learnt.
Hallowa and Garlin (n.d,) highlighted that Pokémon trading cards are being banned from schools as a result of children collecting and trading instead of doing school work and eating their lunch. “Channel One’s news broadcasts are provided free to schools who must promise that the students will watch the many commercials; ZapMe! Computers fill students’ screens with ads while they collect and sell valuable demographic data on users; soda companies make exclusive deals forcing schools to become pop-pushers to get more money; fast food franchises take over cafeterias; hallways, posters and book covers all become billboards for the highest bidder” (Alexander and Dichter n.d.).
Should children be bombarded with advertisements in the school environment?
Kids Are Getting Older Younger (KAGOY)
KAGOY (‘Kids Are Getting Older Younger’) and the thought that children are suffering socially are two areas of concern, particularly among parents. Hollowa and Garlin (n.d. 19) highlight that fashion and fads exist among children and they are “under much more pressure to adopt a particular lifestyle and own a product at a younger age” in order to be accepted by their peers.
Children are now socialising at a much earlier age. Therefore, peer pressure is experienced earlier also. A mother said her eight year old son now plays Pokémon “everyday at home with his 5-year-old brother…once the games enter the house, younger children are playing…” (Carlsson-Paige 2004).
Problems concerning body image are appearing at an earlier age too. Becker (2002) found that there is a distinct link between negative body image, eating disorders and watching TV.
Rush (2007) addresses the many products that are being aimed towards girls aged five and up - padded bras, high heels and cosmetics, such as lip gloss, eye shadow, nail polish and artificial nails. “Modified, child-sized versions of women’s fashion and celebrity magazines advertise many of these products and show how they can be used. Looking “hot” is what is cool for today’s primary-schoolers” (Rush 2007). Are children becoming a little too sexy, too soon? It appears that children are no longer having a ‘childhood’.
Materialistic Values Among Children
I had a lengthy discussion with my niece about toys, fast food and advertising. As she told me about Tamagotchis, McDonald’s Happy Meals, Hunt for Homer and the like, I took some brief notes. At the end of our half-hour chat, she inquired “Will you give me some money because I helped you?” I thought she had put it quite bluntly, but perhaps she was fair in asking.
Evidently, I am now $1.50 down and asking myself - is my little niece subject to the “epidemic of materialistic values among children” (Clay 2000)?
My niece rattled off a list of kids names in her class and told me how many Tamagotchis each of them had. Out of the 15 names, only one child owned one Tamagotchi. Others had as many as four. There is an increasing concern that “Thanks to advertising…children have become convinced that they’re inferior if they don’t have an endless array of new products” (Clay 2000).
Children today are suffering socially for the reason that there is an immense degree of peer pressure. There is an increasing amount of interest in material possessions. Subsequently, children are not being judged by who they are, but by what they own.
Clay (2000) highlights how children once answered “nurse” or “astronaut” when asked the question of what they wanted to be when they grow up. “Today the answer is more likely to be “make money””. Children are valuing monetary worth at a much younger age. My young niece was obsessed with the Hunt for Homer competition with Allen’s Confectionery as there was $10,000 to be won. She often writes stories of millionaires, winning money and ‘being rich’.
Violence
“research tells us that the roots of violent behavior are established when children are very young” (Carlsson-Paige 2004). In fact, “one National survey of teachers’ reactions to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, over 90% reported that they felt the Power Rangers were contributing to increased levels of aggression among the children in their classrooms. Teachers describe how children imitate the violence they’ve seen on the screen in a kind of “scripted” play that is repetitive and unchanging” (Carlsson-Paige 2004).
The believed violence of Pokémon, as well as the obsession for the ‘rare’, limited edition trading cards can be identified as contributing factors to crimes. For example, “reports of criminal behaviour such as attacks on other traders, including one child stabbing another child” and “several reports…[of] delinquent behaviour aimed at ripping-off less savvy or younger school children (one particularly entrepreneurial child down-loaded pictures from the Pokémon website and traded with or sold them as trading cards to other children)” (Hallowa and Garlin n.d. 17).
Carlsson-Paige (2004) states that ‘violent products’ linked to PG and R rated movies are marketed to children as young as four. Godzilla, Tomb Raider, Starship Troopers, Small Soldiers, and Spider-Man are among many examples. The violence of characters in movies or cartoons is often copied by children and may be contributing to behavioural problems that many of them have today.
An Unhealthy Diet
“Currently, over 30% of American children are overweight or obese, and only 2% eat a diet consistent with United States Department of Agricultural guidelines” (Batada and Wootan 2007). The cross-promotion of movies, toys and fast food has long been an area of concern, especially regarding childhood obesity. “KFC paid US$12 million to cross-promote Pokémon with its products” and “…Pokémon products were included in Burger King’s ‘Kids Meal’ and ‘Value Meal’, enabling [them] to break previous sales records within five days of launching the cross-promotional campaign” (Hallowa and Garlin n.d. 15). It can be considered as unethical to manipulate an innocent child’s love for something, by cross-promoting it with fast food franchises. The fast food industry is notorious for cross-promoting their unhealthy menu with children’s contemporary fads.
Recently, Australian Idol jumped on the bandwagon, cross-promoting with McDonalds. My niece highlighted “you always get a toy with a Happy Meal”, as she played with her Australian Idol headset.
And if you thought fast foods could only influence children at meal time, think again. Children can now own a toy set which has everything a McDonalds worker needs, in order to make burgers – cooking utensils, burger ingredients, fries…
The Tamagotchi website has a ‘Tama Burger Game’ which involves the building of your own burger. And this is not the making of a regular sized burger; one meat patty, lettuce, tomato, cheese (children’s burgers often do not even have salads!), but an enormous burger, about five times the size. The game encourages children to build their burger higher and that more is better.
[edit] Sources
References
Alexander, D., and A. Dichter. n.d. Ads and Kids: How Young Is Too Young? http://www.mediachannel.org/atissue/consumingkids/index.shtml (accessed September 17, 2007).
Batada, A. and M.G. Wootan. 2007. Nichelodeon Markets Nutrition-Poor Foods to Children. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 33 (1): 48-50. ScienceDirect. http://www.sciencedirect.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VHT-4P00WVW-8&_user=41361&_coverDate=07%2F31%2F2007&_alid=632491131&_rdoc=4&_fmt=full&_orig=search&_cdi=6075&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=140&_acct=C000004498&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=41361&md5=ae82cb75f161269e7cdc0029c3e1d609 (accessed September 27, 2007).
Becker, A. 2002. Marked link found between eating disorders and TV. British Journal of Psychiatry. June. Quoted in Effects of advertising on children’s body image. 2007. http://www.youngmedia.org.au/mediachildren/03_02_ads_body_image.htm (accessed September 27, 2007).
Carlsson-Paige, N. 2004. The Marketing of Violence to Children. http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/articles/4thsummit/carlssonpaige.htm (accessed August 29, 2007).
Clay, R.A. 2000. Advertising to children: Is it ethical? http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep00/advertising.html (accessed October 2, 2007).
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Hollowa, R., and F. Garlin. n.d. What happened to Pokémon? Quoted in Quester, P., R. McGuiggan, W. Perreault, and E. McCarthy. 2004. Marketing: Creating and Delivering Value (4th ed.). Sydney: McGraw-Hill.
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Rush, E. 2007. Child sexualisation is no game. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=6422 (accessed September 27, 2007).
Stone, B. 1988. Successful Direct Marketing Methods. Lincolnwood: NTC Business Books.
Tamagotchi Connection. 2006. http://www.tamagotchi.com/ (accessed October 3, 2007).
Ward, S., D.B. Wackman, and E. Wartella. 1977. How Children Learn To Buy. California: Sage Publications.
124.182.32.174 08:11, 19 October 2007 (UTC) Articles for creation/2007-10-19
Decline — this is an essay, not an encyclopedia article. You might try editing advertising instead. --Haemo 19:04, 19 October 2007 (UTC)