Advertising's Impact on Kids
“Mom, you should get X brand of
dishwashing detergent. It works
five times better than other brands.”
Do you ever have those types of
conversations at your house? When
my kids were small, they knew every ad on all the kids’ television
channels. They could recite them
verbatim and sing the jingles. It
didn’t seem to matter whether the commercial was touting toys or...dishwasher
detergent. They had them all
memorized. When they began
watching television shows on non-children-oriented channels, I started to get
questions about what depression and erectile dysfunction were. Why is it that
kids pay attention to ads, often above paying attention to there parents?
1) Small children often don’t understand what a commercial is.
While it’s clear to adults that
commercials are paid for by companies to flog a product, young kids frequently
mistake them for part of the show they’re watching. They don’t understand the difference between programming and
paid programming. This gives ads
credibility with kids that ads often don’t deserve. Kids think that, if it’s on television, it must be true.
2) Ads are relentless.
According to the American Academy
of Pediatrics, kids are exposed to over 40,000 advertisements on television
alone. And that’s just ad
spots. Now, companies are paying
to have product placement in the shows themselves, so now kids see their
favorite characters and actors favoring one brand over another which subtlety
affects their brand perceptions.
Ads are also becoming more common on the internet, on electronic reading
devices, in schools, and even in church.
Kids are literally bombarded with sales pitches from the time they wake
up in the morning until the time they go to bed. No wonder they become walking, talking billboards as soon as
they’re able to talk.
3) Ads sell lifestyle.
Advertisers have become very adept
at not only selling a product or service, but selling a better life. This happens in ads aimed at both kids
and adults. Buy X brand of
disinfectant spray and your family will be relaxed and happy. Buy Y brand of jeans and you’ll have
more friends and school and be more popular. Adults have a difficult enough time fighting off these
embedded perceptions. Kids don’t
stand a chance. If they’re led to
believe that having an mp3 player makes them cool, it’s hard for parents to
break that perception.
So, what’s the answer? Never allowing your kids to watch
television, listen to the radio, pick up a magazine, or go online? Of course not- in fact, that only makes
them less ad-savvy. The more you
teach your kids to be wise, if not outright cynical, consumers of advertising,
the better they will be able to filter out the noise in the future.
For more tips and information on
teaching your kids money smarts, join me on my March book blog tour here: http://www.piggybanks2paychecks.com/p/piggy-banks-to-paychecks-2012-blog-tour.html
