Kh423915@ohio.edu
The holiday season is upon us. As the weather harshens, daylight dwindles, and seasonal depression plagues the population, the retail therapy of Black Friday and Christmas shopping seems like a light at the end of the tunnel. While we navigate these consumer decisions, it's important that we fully consider the influences behind our purchases.
Once upon a time, advertising came in the form of a Toys-R-Us catalog that we would thoroughly review and notate to guide our parents' gift giving. Now, advertising has become much more dubious. Instead of a magazine illustrated with all the toys in imagination, advertisers are using popular entertainment as a means of product placement in order to reach younger audiences. Advertising in children's programs is more restricted than for adults; however, advertisers are still able to connect with young audiences through placement in movies, commercials during their favorite shows, and influencers on their favorite YouTube channels. In an effort to protect children from negative influences, more regulations are placed on the type of advertising that can be featured in children's content. The goal is to keep your toddler from asking for a pack of Camel Reds in their stocking. Well, maybe not entirely. Surely, shielding children from advertising for adult products will keep their temptation to use these products at bay. Additionally, limitations on advertising towards children helps safeguard them from underlying persuasive messages that they may not be able to differentiate from reality.
The most common advertisements children are exposed to are those for foods. Most kids can understand that eating an Air Head won't turn them into a bobble- headed inflatable. Other childhood fascinations though, represented as whimsical cartoons, could influence a child enough to throw a temper tantrum in the grocery store over a box of Lucky Charms. I would gamble that almost every child has seen the Trix cereal commercial and knows the slogan "Trix are for Kids!" by heart.
(Photo by Reuters)
While the instinct may be to eliminate children's exposure to advertising, the strategy is rather counter productive. In order to help children, make the distinction between reality and advertising as they become exposed to more adult content, it is important that we educate them on hidden methods of advertisers.
Millions of children will grow up to use social media and online news outlets to stay in tune with the world as teens and adults. On these platforms, ad messages become even more disguised. Blending advertisements in with editorial content by matching content themes, fonts, and layouts, makes sponsored content increasingly more difficult to distinguish. These practices of merging journalism with commercialism have been met with large scrutiny from ethical industry professionals. According to Los Angeles Times writer, David Lazarus, “the goal of journalism is to inform and enlighten. The goal of advertising is to influence your thinking and behavior, typically to get you to buy something.” In a time when collecting consumer data has never been easier, advertisers are even more equipped with the tools to deliver us ads that are curated to our interests and emotions. Point being, tricks are NOT just for kids.
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