Advertisements directed at children

Nevyn

ok it's started i Know it is november but my 4 year old has already asked for things for chirstmas/yule. We dont let him watch a lot of tv, and yet he has a list of stuff .

Are the advertisments aimed at kids too much ? should we have a policy like sweden where targeting under 12s is illeagal ?

Offy

Sounds good to me

foxinsocks

again, im not a parent yet, but...

I dont know how effective not targetting the kids will be. My 4 year old cousin had never ever been exposed to Barney, as my aunt hated, feared, and despised the big purple freak... however, when he was brought around a VERY large toy shop, the only thing he picked up and wouldnt put down again was a large stuffed Barney...

If your child is in school, or pre-school, no matter how young, they'll be exposed to other kids' stuff, and other kids' stuff is always better than your own stuff, so your kids will still want more stuff, even if they never see a television...

Fox_in_Socks

Occidental

I have a list of thing I'd like to do to Barney and judging by the amount of security guards he has at Universal, many other people have a similar list to me.

Much of the kids advertising is a disgrace, but no matter how much you shield them, they'll pick it all up once they start school.
The good news is that they don't just abandon all the things they've done before this, so your hard work does have some reward.

Nevyn

My house is a Barney no zone too,
But you would be surprized at the ammount of crap targeted at kids (currently i'm doing the stay at home mammy bit )
and the ammount of adds on if scarey.

p

Originally posted by foxinsocks
I dont know how effective not targetting the kids will be. My 4 year old cousin had never ever been exposed to Barney, as my aunt hated, feared, and despised the big purple freak... however, when he was brought around a VERY large toy shop, the only thing he picked up and wouldnt put down again was a large stuffed Barney...

Well certain toys will always have that affect.

If advertising for kids was banned outright though, the the influence from other children in school etc... would be minimised itself. (in theory)

- Kevin

smiles

My niece (4) scared me by being able to sing along to almost *every* advertisment directed towards kids on TV... she's pipe up with the "i want that" but she knows at this stage that she doesnt get everything she wants.

Barney on the other hand? Well she think's he's great, as do her twin two year old autistc little brothers, and i guess i have nothing against the program because the twins dont talk much or properly, and yet it's been the barney rhymes and songs that they've learned and are able to understand. Put it this way, at the stage where they weren't able to call my sister (their mum) "Mammy" or anything like it they were able to show that they cared by running up to her and saying "hug from me to you" or "great big kiss".... a breakthrough in communications thats something my entire family has been incredibly grateful for.

<< Fio >>

Gordon

Heh, this is a bit off topic but...
A mate of mine was in New York some time ago and he was in the middle of some street carnival. There was a massive heliumated Barney the Blob floating above the masses and it was a bit windy. With the movements of the wind it caught the side of a building and started going off course by bobbing around annoyingly (as Barney is wont to do). It bobbed around so much that it started to cause possible danger to the carnival-goers. It actually ended up swooping down onto the people and almost caused harm so...

The police on the scene decided to take it out. They apparently got knives and started to puncture holes in Barney to take out the helium. My mate was looking on as a mass of cops were stabbing Barney with knives and little children were watching and crying to their parents thinking they were killing Barney.

I hate Barney myself but I guess as smiles says - these types of programs can be great for children.

On topic - I dont think that advertising like this should be made illegal as it is up to the parent to teach their children that everything in life is not possible to have. Advertising is not just on the TV and on catchy sound bites but from their friends and peers. I think that the core of the problem is the susceptibility a child has towards tantalising new titbits which is something a good parent can embue morals over.

I'm not a parent by the way (afaik) so apologies for my lack of proper understanding on this matter.

McGinty

I definately think that television adverts make a difference, My reason is because I am experiencing it first hand. Last pre-christmas my son watched telly and a lot of it, by the end of November it was Mammy I want this, Mammy I want that. This year however we both hardly watch TV. He loves playing the playstation, my computer or with his toys, and I literally had to sit him down and get the two of us to write to Santa (so as that Santa had enough money and time to gather said gifts) and he wasn't greedy at all, he struggled to know what he wanted and we have ended up with a playstation game and a suprise. He hardly ever says I want this or that for Christmas and I am convinced it is because he doesn't watch telly. Even though he goes to school, what his peers say have no effect.

Plus if you actually watch the earlier daytime adverts, you will see that they are aimed directly at children and later on in the evening you will see adverts that are geared to parents, because they are they more educational toys and the language is aimed at a more adult level.