Effects Of Advertising On Children

Advertising is a form of marketing in which the author uses writing strategies to capture the attention of an audience to persuade them into purchasing what is being promoted. The success of an ad relies on the products ability to reason with readers and appeal based on emotions. Individuals can be distinguished by their proneness to social influence; teenagers in particular differ in regards to their level of susceptibility to advertising. Though teenagers do not typically have as much money as older adults, there are many products that teenagers are still willing to spend their restricted funds on. These advertising agencies who target teens utilize strategies that are meant to make their services and/or products attractive

“The general public apparently believes subliminal advertising exists” (Broyles 393) however, what effects, if any, are there to the people that view them? There is a belief that companies can influence our behavior in life to the extent where they can, in part, remove the consumers ' choice in their purchases. The idea of advertising firms crafting advertisements with hidden messages that influence the audience to shop at stores, buy a certain product or even which foods we ingest is common in contemporary culture. David Zinczenko addresses many concerns about the marketing and health impacts of the fast food industry in his article, “Don’t Blame the Eater”. Zinczenko says is directly, “Fast-Food companies are marketing to children a product

Eric Schlosser argues that marketing to children is the easiest and most strategic way to meet sales forecasts. In his book Fast Food Nation, Schlosser states that, “eight year olds are considered ideal customers; they have about sixty-five years of purchasing in front of them.” Children are extremely malleable and easily influenced as they are forming their habits, opinions, and tastes. When companies market to kids, it is likely that the child will continue to purchase from that company as they grow up. The fast food industry greatly relies on its familiarity and consistency. Someone who grows up eating McDonalds is likely to continue eating there because it is familiar. According to Time Magazine, studies show that approximately 34% of

Story, Mary, and Simone French. “Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, BioMed Central, 10 Feb. 2004, ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1479-5868-1-3. Accessed 25 February 2018.

In Schlosser’s article, “Kid Kustomers” the main argument is that major ad agencies are focusing to much time advertising to children. He uses multiple topics and threads to portray the negative effects of marketing to children. Using the example of Fast Food industries partnering up with toy companies to appeal to the younger consumer and goes into the effects the children have on their parents as a consumer.

The commercials on the television, the advertisements placed on newspapers and the banners by big conglomerates have one thing in common: They are mostly geared towards children. Chapter 2 of the book Fast Food Nation, written by Eric Schlosser provides a history of two big American companies, McDonalds and Disney, and how their selfish desires led to marketing directed towards children. Schlosser’s central idea and usage of argumentative techniques along with bias define this chapter’s purpose as an educational work designed to reveal the antics of big money corporations.

Child obesity is not advertised like the lastest chicken nugget meal, which need to be addressed. There has been a rapid growth in child obesity worldwide. It has now caused a major problem in the health of young children. Center for Diseases Control took a survey in 2011 to 2014, showing that 12.7 million are being affected from the ages of 2 - 19 years old. Fast food restaurants are advertising in children show commercials. In a result of this many people, health officials, and parents are complaining because there has been an increase of child obesity.

In this assignment, I will discuss the ethical issues in marketing to children from a utilitarianism perspective. Marketing to children can be defined as the “act of marketing or advertising products or services to children”. There have been controversies surrounding the issue of marketing to children with regard to whether it is ethical or unethical. Utilitarianism on the other hand is defined as the ethical theory which finds the basis of moral distinctions in the utility of actions (their fitness to produce happiness). Utilitarianism is part of consequentialist theories which assess moral right and wrong in terms of the consequences of the actions. Utilitarianism places great importance on actions that produce or increase pleasure and reduce pain. In other words, utilitarianism advocates for happiness producing consequences.

In David Barboza’s article, “If You Pitch It, They Will Eat It,” Barboza argues that big name food companies are targeting the youth of society, because they will watch a show on television and see the food products at the store with their favorite character on the packaging. But the food that is being marketed to the youth is unhealthy for the human body. “There are SpongeBob SquarePants Popsicles, Oreo Cookie preschool counting books and Keebler Scooby Doo Cookies. There is even a Play-Doh Lunchables play set” (Barboza). Here he shows the audience

each day a child sees an ad whether it be on an electronic or a sign/billboard. For instance, in the article “Facts About Marketing Towards Children” a part of the article proves that children are exposed to many advertisements each day,¨The average American child today is exposed to an estimated 40,000 television commercials a year — over 100 a day,”(89) said The Center for a New American Dream. Children are exposed to so many commercials that if you ask a child to sing a jingle they’ve heard from a commercial they will come up with one in a flash. Advertisers are maliciously and continuously advertising towards children. The quote states that an American child on average sees over 100 advertisements a day and that is true, between phones and T.V children do see a lot of

Advertising is a form of propaganda that plays a huge role in society and is readily apparent to anyone who watches television, listens to the radio, reads newspapers, uses the internet, or looks at a billboard on the streets and buses. The effects of advertising begin the moment a child asks for a new toy seen on TV or a middle aged man decides he needs that new car. It is negatively impacting our society. To begin, the companies which make advertisements know who to aim their ads at and how to emotionally connect their product with a viewer. For example, “Studies conducted for Seventeen magazine have shown that 29 percent of adult women still buy the brand of coffee they preferred as a teenager, and 41 percent buy the same brand of mascara” (Source

In Eric Schlosser‘s essays, the author shows how the social media are targeting children by their ads and advertisements. He exposes the negative side of advertising especially when children are implicated. The author explores children’s cooperation with these companies whether consciously or unconsciously through their behavior and ways of convincing their parents to get them what they want. He mentions how these same parents by lack of spending enough time with kids pamper them and don’t refuse their desires. Schlosser gives more explanations by introducing several examples of these companies such as Disney, McDonald, clothes, oil, and phone companies, too without openly blaming neither of them. The diction used throughout the essay exposes

Media promotes all forms of obesity. In If You Pitch It, They Will Eat, a New York Times article written by David Barboza, Susan Linn, a psychologist who studies children’s marketing at Harvard’s Judge Baker Children’s Center states, “It used to just be Saturday-morning television. Now it’s Nickelodeon, movies, video games, the Internet, and even marketing in schools”(5). Essentially, Linn is saying that their has been an increase in food marketing because of how advance technology has gotten which has lead to the increase of weight in children and many americans. David Barboza, in If You Pitch It, They Will Eat, explains how marketers use television by stating, “Marketers know that children love animals and cartoon characters, and industry observers say they have used that knowledge not just to create new shows but to produce a new generation of animated pitchmen”(29). This statement is so true because when my little brother sees toys or junk food on television he immediately begs my parents to buy either one for him. The majority of commercials during programs aimed at children are for unhealthy high-fat, high sugars or high-salt foods with little nutritional value. Not all parents are aware of how their children are exposed to marketing campaigns that influence their children. Some top food choices for kids attack kids by their appealing commercials. The commercials use bright colors, a funny icon cartoon character, older kids, and catchy phrases. Also, the TV is sought to be a key to kids and their weight, it brainwashes the kids into thinking the bad food is the good food. Basically these types of commercials are a main source for the company’s money. Parents will do almost everything for their kids but sometimes the parents just give them food to stop bothering

Kids can be taught that what’s on an ad isn’t necessarily what they need.” At the end, marketers must maintain an appropriate structure or strategy without using people in a bad way. If it’s possible for a child being obsessed with a toy and food box, then it’s possible for him to like a sweet fruit box with an interesting book or comics, magazines etc. if we can support or teach them. We must accept that healthy food, exercising, protecting environment, enjoying beautiful sides of life, even choosing the best music or watching the proper advertisement - they are the best solutions for a good future even though they may be hard for some people to adapt. We must protect the young generation, children from harmful atmosphere just as some ads. It’s not

Childhood obesity is, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) one of the most public health challenges of the 21 century, with over 42 million children under 5 estimated to be overweight (WHO). The epidemic is caused by a global trend towards radically reduced physical activity levels. This is coupled by a global shift in diet towards energy-dense foods that are high in fat, salt and sugars (HFSS), but low in vitamins and minerals, and advertising and marketing for these types of food products are argued to be partly to blame for the shift in dietary intake. There are some considerable concerns expressed about the Level of children’s exposure to brands on social networks, leading to complex arguments about children’s resulting sense of reality and feelings of self-esteem. Skaar (2009) for example argues that the constant viewing of brands and products online, and the opportunity for children to adopt the strategies and resources of professional marketers to market them, lay foundations for social competition and reinforces patterns of exclusion and uniformity. Similarly, Thomson (2010) argues that the