Cradle to Grave

Prior to watching Consuming Kids, I was aware that children are being used by the multi-billion dollar marketing businesses to sell products.  What I was not prepared to learn about however, was the twisted and extreme lengths to which marketers and companies go to target our youth.

The film explores the, in my opinion, unethical practices of the industry as they try to sell children (and their parents) everything from unhealthy foods like McDonalds to extremely violent video games and even the family car.  With the help of health care professionals, children’s advocates, and industry insiders, the film reveals how these youth marketers are using the latest in advanced psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to mold America’s children into the ultimate consumer.  What is concerning about such a practice are the ethics in children marketing and its direct impact on their health and overall well-being.

Now, I understand that these people’s jobs are to sell the product.  If it’s a child’s toy, it obviously needs to attract and be targeted towards the child.  But the use of manipulation to attract is completely unethical.  Children are young and fragile and not able to comprehend this technique, therefore; by creating an advertisement, be it a commercial or print ad, targeted toward the child in a manipulative manner is indeed wrong.

Their practice of filming a child as they go on shopping trips, while they pick out an outfit, how they handle the shampoo bottle as they are bathing, or using the restroom is completely inappropriate and, for lack of a better term, creepy.  Although scientifically it makes sense that if we are to learn about whom we are targeting our products for; in this case it is the children, that by watching them interact with different products we will be able to better understand how and what they are thinking, and how to make them want our product.

But there is a very large distinction between manipulating a child to want junk food or unnecessary and age inappropriate material things like clothing or video games; to manipulating them to want educational or healthy products.  Unfortunately, today children are being heavily manipulated by companies like McDonalds and Pizza Hut and Magazines like “Seventeen Magazine” who put their logos on school property and products and via deceptive ads and commercials to brand them and keep them for life.

Now, although I’d like to be able to convince myself that these companies’ top priories are the health and well-being of the children, it would be equivalent to saying the tobacco industry wants people to quite smoking because it will in fact lead to lung cancer or some other atrocious disease, and even death.  But that’s not the world we live in.

Today, it’s all about the money; as shallow and unfortunate as that is.  And as consumers, we too are to blame because we’ve enabled these companies to stay in business and keep up this type of business practice.  Think about it, if people simply stopped buying cigarettes, they’d go out of business.  It’s that simple.  All those truth ads, although extremely well done, are targeting the wrong people.  The tobacco company will continue to make a product so long there is a demand for it.  Stop the demand, then “hasta la vista baby!” to the product.

This same mentality applies to the companies targeting children.  Throughout this video, as fingers were being pointed and blame named on these advertisement companies, one question continued to circulate itself around in my head; “where are the parents”.

On several occasions throughout the film, the people being interview explained that techniques such as “nagging” are used to get the parents to purchase the products.  But I’m left curious; are the parents now-a-days so weak that they give in to a little nagging?  And why on earth are they allowing their children to act this inappropriately in the first place?

I know when I was young, nagging was not an option.  I was allowed to ask once, my parents would give their answer which was usually followed with an explanation so that I understood why I was not getting what I asked for, and then that was it.

It is the parent’s responsibility to control what their child consumes.  Yes, we are bombarded by hundreds of ads a day, but it is the parents who have the power to make the purchase, not the children.  Parents are here to educate, support, and build the beginning of a path that the child will spend the rest of their life traveling.

It is the parent’s responsibility to be the smart consumer and teach the child to do the same.  These companies are only succeeding because we let them.  If we all simply took a stand toward what we feel is morally or ethically right or wrong, then these companies would be forced to change their strategies.

I know perhaps that this example for change is easier said then done, as I do not have children so I don’t understand what it is like to have someone young and naive wanting all the time.  However, I do know that if my parents were capable of “laying down the law” with me, because as I stated before, there was no room for backtalk or nagging with them, then so is every other parent out there.

Ultimately, I am in no way condoning the actions of these companies.  Fact of the matter is, they are driven by money and their goal to sell the product.  It is our jobs as consumers and the parent’s responsibilities as their children’s “gatekeepers” to educate and filter the products their children will obtain and use.

Advertisement