The short clip that we watched in class yesterday really got be thinking about the ethics of targeting children in advertisments. Personally, I do not think that there is any ethical problem with targeting the age-group that the prodct is designed for. That is, after all, the most effective way to sell something, which is all any company is trying to do. If the "nag factor" is what makes adults more likely to buy a product, then the realy problem lies in parents' attitudes toward their own children. If a child learns early on that they can get anything that they want from their parents merely by nagging them, then that lesson will stick. The parents are allowing this cycle to begin the first time they cave in to their child's wanting. The lessons that parents teach the children can have much more bearing on the way that their children develop than the media that they absorb. However, sucessful parenting may include limiting this media.
This said, I did find one study that shows that advertising a certain type of product very negatively effects children, both mentally and physically. This is the advertising of food. A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation that I came across (view it here) suggests that the main reason that childhood obesity has become such a problem in the past few years is due to food advertisements directed at children. It says that the average child will spend almost six hours in "screentime" (TV, computer, gaming) every day. It also said that every year, each child will have seen over 40.000 commercials on TV alone. I found this to be the most telling sentence: "The majority of ads targeted at children are for food: primarily candy (32%), cereal (31%), and fast food (9%)". Although advertising for toys and chuckie-cheese's is not really that harmful, this clearly is.
Ads for non-food items will bombard the average American daily for the rest of our lives. What better time to prepare for this than during our childhood, when our parents can help us to regulate our purchasing and consuming? Food advertising, on the other hand, is quite harmful to children, many of whom have parents who also struggle with obesity and overeating. This habit will cause even more health problems later in life that are tied to obesity, causing the health care system billions every year.
This may seem like overkill to some, but after reading this study, I have come to believe that food products should not be advertised on TV to anyone, regardless of age. Thoughts?
I think you're right, eliminating ads for food products would help reduce the amount of obesity and overeating. Honestly though, I don't think it would do very much. Like Mr. Bolos said, it is expensive to eat healthy. Alot of families have neither the time nor money to make healthy, well rounded meals. Buying unhealthy, prepackaged products ridden with preservatives is alot more economical. I also think that a fight to stop food advertisements could be won. It's really up to parents not to reward nagging and put in extra effort to provide their families with healthy food.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting change of heart, Lizzy. So do you no longer believe, "I do not think that there is any ethical problem with targeting the age-group that the product is designed for"?
ReplyDeleteHow much can parents be expected to resist the onslaught? How much patience is a parent expected to have? I think I felt very similar to you until I started raising my own children and realized that parenting is just one of *many* pressures a working adult faces!
Well, I still think that companies should be able to target younger people, just not with marketing food. That is the only respect in which my opinions changed.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do understand that thinking about being a parent and actually being one are very different. :)