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Advertisements may look innocent but they are an influence on your children's futures. Advertisements constantly bombard children and portray false impressions and ideals. The advertising companies prey upon children's self-esteem and teach them materialism. Roy F. Fox ( 2006 ) stated "Because kids are a potential long term investment, advertisers position them as super targets" ( ¶ 1 ). Labeled as a super target demonstrates the interest advertisemers have in children. Advertisers' interest in children is so tremendous that a demographic classification was created especially for children ( Fox,2006 ).

Forced and High Pressure Advertisements

Some public schools have television sessions provided by Channel One. These sessions are useful and teach students current events. The sponsors of Channel One use this opportunity to show advertisements to a captive audience. The students cannot leave the room or occupy the viewing time with something else even while advertisements are shown. Using this opportunity, advertisers attempt to bypass parental authority to sell more goods ( Rowe & Ruskin, 2006 ).

Adults have become accustomed to tactics employed by advertisers and think nothing of the underlying messages in commercials. Children are not world savvy; therefore, are more susceptible to high-pressure advertising. Children and adolescents are developing in a world that promises everything, for a price.

Increasing pressure from advertising messages reaches even the youngest children. Children are aware of different brand names at an earlier age: they know the difference between a pair of Nikes and a pair of sneakers. Children even know which stores carry the particular brand names they are interested in. Most children by seven or eight years old are capable of entering into a store and asking information about the products they are interested in ( Nestle, 2005 ).

United Advertisements

Companies are even combining their forces to advertise their products to children. Warner Bros. paired together with the makers of Cap-n Crunch Cereal to create a new cereal called Superman Crunch to promote Warner Bros. new movie "Superman" in 2006. The new cereal box of course had advertisements for the new movie. (Schor & Ford, 2007)

Advertisers target children because children now have larger allowances and are a greater influence on family spending. James McNeil, a marketer for child products, estimated that children 8 to 12 years old influenced adult spending in the amount of 310 billion dollars in 2002 (Schor & Ford, 2007). Television advertising segments have increased from 16 minutes to 21 minutes per hour in the last four years (Christakis & Zimmerman, 2006). Roy Fox put it bluntly when he said, "For the past decade, corporations have feasted upon kids like jackals at a carcass" ( 2006, ¶ 2 ).

According to Rowe and Ruskin ( 2006 ) advertising companies hire professionals such as Cheryl Idell of Western Initiative Media Worldwide. She teaches advertisers how to use the nag factor to make the commercials more effective towards children. Idell explains that the nag factor promotes up to 30 % of the trips to fast food restaurants and purchases of electronic games and clothes.

Advertisement Studies

In 1999, President Clinton asked the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) and Justice Department to investigate the strategies of violent film commercials to children. In 2001, Sonya Grier wrote a summary of the findings of that study. Grier found that advertisements routinely targeted underage children. For example, one consultant for strategies to market a violent R-rated film stated, " Our goal was to find the elusive teen target audience and make sure everyone between the ages of 12 - 18 was exposed to the film " ( Grier, 2001, ¶ 8 ). Grier also found that another studio conducted research on how to market an " R" rated movie to children 10 and 11 years old. What is the purpose of having a rating system, if advertisers do not follow the guidelines?

Studies suggest that self-esteem is determined by the way children look at other groups as being better or more superior to their own group. The more prestigious a group appears to others the better a member of that group will appear by association ( Klaczynski, Goold & Moody, 2004 ). Marketers use this theory to convey a message to children that the advertised items will enable the children to successfully fit in. If a group of children wear the same sports team jacket or style of jeans, a child who wants to be associated with that group will want the same jacket or style of jeans. When advertisements depict an item as exciting, children tend to think that the advertised item will draw attention and will help them appear more exciting.

"Instead of transmitting a sense of who we are and what we hold important, today's marketing-driven culture is instilling in [children] a sense that little exists without a sale pitch attached and that self-worth is something you buy at a shopping mall" ( Rowe & Ruskin, 2003 P. 3, ¶ 5)

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Self-Esteem and Advertisements

Advertised products falsely depict items as a way to increase a child's abilities. If a child has a pair of Nike sneakers can he or she run faster or jump higher? If a child drinks a certain sports drink will he or she have more energy? Does Red Bull really give you wings? What happens to a child's self-esteem if a new item does not elevate the child's performance?

Viewing slender and sexy models in numerous ads causes teenage girls to look at themselves as not measuring up to modern standards. At least half of the high school girls interviewed admitted to being on diets the previous month. From the body and fitness ideals impressed in advertisement, eating disorders are now the third leading chronic illness among teenage girls ( Smeesters $ Mandel, 2006 ).

Diet and Exercise from Advertisements

Careful reviews of studies have shown that advertising is effective in changing a child's diet (Schor & Ford, 2007 ). Parents try to teach proper diets to children but are contradicted by numerous commercials aired for candy, soft drinks, sugared cereals, and fatty foods. Not only can an improper diet lead to obesity, it can also lead to type two diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Children with low self-esteem because of their weight can develop eating disorders such as anorexia, nervosa and bulimia ( Kids Health, 2005 ).

With the Internet, video games, and online instant messaging there are more ways to occupy a child's time. With the lack of calorie burning activities obesity is an increasing problem in modern children. The constant intake of advertised junk food is only contributing to the matter. When was the last time a commercial for asparagus, broccoli or green beans was shown on television? ( Klaczynski, Goold, & Murdy, 2004 ). Parents do not need help from a negative influence to instill in a child poor eating habits.

Fast food companies have come up with clothing for children so parents can pay money to have children advertise fast food. Toys and video games not only make the fast food industry money but help remind children of Burger King or McDonalds. Sales companies are after children to make them lifelong customers ( Nestle, 2005 ).

George Zinkham explains materialism as, "More is better" ( 1994, ¶ 2 ) Teen age boys who watched television were interested in how much they would own as adults; while teenage boys that did not watch television showed more interest in what they would be doing for a career. The more advertisements viewed, the more materialism increased ( Zinkham, 1994 ).

Sex in Advertisements

An advertisement shows a girl slapping the backside of a boy for winning in a sports competition. Is this the proper way for children to praise others for a job well done? Parents encourage children to practice abstinence from sex and try to protect children from sexual scenes on television. Even soap commercials depict a naked man or woman showering in a suggestive manner. Everybody knows people do not wear clothes while showering, so are commercials showing implied nudity? Automobile ads suggest it is easier to pick up a beautiful woman or a handsome man for a date if a flashy car is driven. The purpose of perfume and body wash is to appear desirable to the opposite sex; use this body wash and the girls will come running.

Condom commercials teach about protection from sexually transmitted diseases, but does that mean if children use condoms sex is permissible? Adolescents that continually see these sexual scenes believe that promiscuity is the proper way to act and sex is a necessary and acceptable rite in becoming an adult. With all these advertisements contradicting parents, no wonder teenage pregnancies are at an all time high ( Tamara & Roleff, 2001 ).

Do you really know what advertising is teaching children? These advertisements are doing much more than selling goods. Studies on how children are impacted by television commercials are ongoing. Bureaus, commissions and boards may censor television but advertising companies have learned to push the limits. In this free country there is a free market, but how far are these advertisers allowed to go and at whose expense? When a child is heard saying, "I want this, I want this, I want this" think about where he or she learned the nag factor.

Reference:

Christakis, D. and Zimmerman, F. ( 2006 ).

Media as a Public Health Issue. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 160 ( 4 ) 445.

Fox, R. (2006).

Advertising is Harmful to Children, San Diego: Green Haven Press.

Grier, S. (2001, spring).

The Federal Trade Commission's Report on the Developing Policy-Tuned Research. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 20(1), 123-132.

Nemours Foundation (2005).

Kids Health. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/food/weight/overweight_obesity.html

Nestle, M. (2005).

The Fast Food Industry Intentionally Markets Unhealthy Food to Children. San Diego: Green Haven Press.

Rowe, J. and Ruskin, G. (2006).

Corporate Marketing is Responsible for Childrens' Materialism, Detroit: Green Haven Press.

Schor, J. and Ford, M. (2007, Spring).

From Taste Great to Cool: Children's Marketing and the Rise of the Symbolic. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 10(13).

Smeesters, D. and Mandel, N. (2006, March).<.dt>

Positive and Negative Media Images Effects on The Self. Journal of Consumer Research. 32(4), 576.

Tamara, E. and Roleff, L (2001).

Introduction to Teenage Sexuality. San Diego: Green Haven Press.

Zinkham, G. (1994, June).

Advertising, Materialism, and Quality of Life. Journal of Advertising, 23(2), 1.

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