One primary goal of having students critically examine ads to counteract years of socialization of themselves as consumers, a process that begins at a very young age. In an article distributed by Reuters, Maureen Bavdek, “Marketing to Children Causes Great Divide,” notes that the following:

• “Critics of advertising aimed at children say that Madison Avenue should stop exploiting youngsters by turning them into little insatiable consumers. But marketing executives in the $500 billion-a-year industry who dream up the campaigns and slogans meant to capture the attention of children argue that they are simply informing the consumer, and follow all the rules in doing so.”

• “Experts say the average U.S. child is bombarded with some 40,000 commercials a year on television alone. Corporations are now using more sophisticated marketing techniques to grab a child’s attention and hold it, often for years.”

In an article on the impact of advertising on children, Miriam H. Zoll of American News Service notes that children, regardless of their background, share a strong desire for material goods:

“In my practice I see kids becoming incredibly consumerist,” said Kanner, who is based at the Wright Institute, a graduate psychology school in Berkeley, Calif. “The most stark example is when I ask them what they want to do when they grow up. They all say they want to make money. When they talk about their friends, they talk about the clothes they wear, the designer labels they wear, not the person’s human qualities.

“I see parents in this context, too,” Kanner continued. “They come to me and say their kids are depressed and ask for violent video games or the food they see on TV. Parents say they feel in conflict. They want to say no, but they don't want to have their child be upset with them.”

It’s not just the pervasiveness of marketing campaigns aimed at children, Kanner said. Nowadays advertisers are making their pitches to younger and younger audiences, many of them not yet out of diapers.

Do ads directed at toddlers work? According to Kanner, they do. “Recent studies have also shown that by the time they are 36 months old, American children recognize an average of 100 brand logos,” he said.

More stringent measures have been taken in other parts of the world. The governments of Sweden and Norway prohibit television advertising directly targeting children under the age of 12. Greece bans TV stations from advertising toys to children between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Quebec restricts all television advertising directed at children under the age of 13.

Many of children’s television shows contain numerous ads pitching fast food, toys, dolls, and sports items. Based on research that indicated that children under age eight are not capable of critically responding to advertising and therefore tend to accept their messages, the American Psychological Association recommended that restrictions be placed on advertising geared for children, particularly in terms of fast-food marketing.

The London Telegraph reported that British children view 20, 000 commercials a year. There are 1,150 junk-food television commercials each day. While it is difficult to prove a cause and effect relationship between advertising and obesity, the obesity rate in children has increased by 25 per cent from 1995 to 2003 and affects one in 10 six-year-olds.
Leonard, T. (2004, 01/05). Children bombarded with junk food adverts.

Given the assumption that advertising may be harmful to their health, the Australian government does not allow advertising in preschool program, limits advertising to five minutes for every thirty minutes of children’s television, and places restrictions on the content of that advertising.
Australian Broadcasting Authority

Lesson: The Consumer Economy

Media Awareness Network guides: Advertising and consumption

Advertising and consumption

Children and advertising

For further reading on children and advertising:

Fox, R. R. (2000). Harvesting minds: How TV commercials control kids. New York: Praeger.

Macklin, M., & Carlson, L. (Eds.) (1996). Advertising to children: Concepts and controversies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Unnikrishnan, N., & Bajpai, S. (1996). The impact of television advertising on children. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

For a textbook/workbook with seven units and 45 activities for grades 6-12:

Paxson, P. (2002). Media literacy: Thinking critically about advertising. Lincoln, NE: Center for Media Literacy.

For a book for children ages eight and up:

Graydon, S. (2003). Made you look: How advertising works and why you should know. New York: Annick Press.

Module 6: Word document

A Broader Definition of Advertising Instruction

Advertising Drives Content

Why Study Ads?

Application of Semiotic Analysis to Ads

Rhetorical/Audience Analysis of Ads

Critical Discourse Analysis of Ads

Advertising as Propaganda: Public Relations Ads

Advertising and Idealized Gender Images

Advertising and Alcohol/Tobacco

Advertising and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Advertising on the Web

Marketing in Schools

Political Advertising

Product Placements

Creating or Parodying Ads

References

Teaching Activities