Toy advertising is the promotion of toys through a variety of media. Advertising campaigns for toys have been criticised for turning children into consumerists and are regulated to ensure they meet defined standards. These rules vary from country to country, with all advertisements directed to children banned in some countries.
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As with all advertising campaigns the intention is to sell a company's product. Adverts for toys frequently promote the sale not just of one individual item but an entire range.
Toy advertisements may be aimed at two particular groups: children and adults. When advertising to children, the excitement or fun are paramount. Products are brightly coloured, fast moving, and associated with famous brand-names such as current film releases or TV characters. Careful packaging improves the attractiveness; for example in using large boxes. Toys which are too expensive for a child to afford directly can still be promoted by recommending pester power; telling children what to say to their parents to persuade them to buy it. The robustness, lifespan, flexibility of the toy is often not a priority.
When advertising toys to adults, the educational benefits are often promoted. The claims may not always be proven true, although outright lying in advertising is generally illegal. Making parents feel guilty for not giving their children the best resources is common.
The term "pester power" refers to children nagging their parents to buy a product. Children will repeatedly ask them to buy a toy they want, and such insistence often leads to a purchase.[1]
| “ | Young children have difficulty distinguishing between advertising and reality in ads, and ads can distort their view of the world | ” |
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—Consumer Reports, [2] |
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Toy advertising campaigns may be targeted to children and their parents, with different methods for each. Marketing towards adults is intended to make them believe that the product would be beneficial for the child, often stressing the educational gains that they will make.
Children up to the age of five can find it difficult to distinguish between the main programmes and commercial breaks and can easily be led to "need" something they see on television.[2] This is particularly difficult for them when a toy range is linked to a television series they are watching.[3] Many children do not understand the intentions of marketing and commercials until the age of eight, often believing a toy to be more functional than it really is.[2]
Many toys are directed towards one specific sex and tailor their advertising to meet the needs of that particular sex.[4]
Like other consumer products, toys may also be offered as sets. While each one may be affordable, it would be a significant investment to "collect them all".
Toy advertising continues in shops, and on product packaging. Many toys are now carefully laid out in a very large cardboard box, against a colourful background, with the toy itself strapped into an attractive position using many wire ties. When finally removed from the box (by which time a refund is impossible), it can appear far less comprehensive than it originally did.
The educational benefits of toys are also tabulated on packaging, for the benefit of parents. Skills which a child will gain, such as hand-eye coordination, exploration and problem solving are made as explicit as possible for parents to notice.
Toys, like many products, use co-branding to associate the familiar benefits of another product, with the one being advertised.
Many toy lines are developed to tie in to films and television series. Bernard Loomis is credited with masterminding the first children's television series created to sell a range of toys.[5] 1969s Hot Wheels would later be classified by the Federal Communications Commission as "advertising time", but the idea helped to change the way in which toys were marketed and children's series were developed. Loomis went on to implement the toy merchandising for the Star Wars films.[6] In 1984 the United States Federal Trade Commission deregulated children's television. As part of this they removed a prohibition against cartoon series linked to toys, with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe being one of the first to have an associated toy line.[3] That same year Hasbro developed Transformers, which would be released as an animated television series, comic book, and toy line.[7]
The linking of toys to fast food advertising campaigns has been widely condemned for increasing childhood obesity.[2] However the practice is still a very popular marketing technique. Starting in the late 1980s fast food chains began to realise that the over 30s market was dropping due to an increased awareness of health and thus the avoidance of junk food. They looked to children as a potential growth market because of their ability to influence their parents in deciding where to eat. The introduction of toys given away with meals has boosted sales dramatically, and the further tie-in to films and television series has further increased the marketing opportunities.[8]
Common methods of advertising include:
The first televised toy commercial to be shown in the United States was for Hasbro's Mr. Potato Head in 1955.[7] Since then television has been one of the most important media for marketing toys.
The Internet has created a whole new environment for advertisers and new strategies have developed to take advantage of the lack of a regulatory body. Now a significant part of youth culture, marketing campaigns can target children without any parental supervision.[1] Interactive games are a new medium which can be used to advertise toys to children without them realising that it is part of a gimmick.
In response to the perceived dangers of advertising to children some countries and districts have highly regulated or even banned these marketing avenues. In Sweden all advertisements aimed at children under the age of 12 have been banned and they are lobbying the European Union to do the same. Similarly Québec introduced the Consumer Protection Act to ban print and broadcast advertising aimed at children under the age of 13.[2]
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