The Apparent Lost Ethics of Advertising to Children

 Ayden Crowley

ac893419@ohio.edu

    With the rise of the digital age, advertising has become more and more intertwined with our daily consumption of media. With the rise of social media, the rise of personalized and targeted ads have followed. Our in class discussions have pointed out the blatant disregard a majority of large social media influencers have for ethical advertising. In the examples presented in class, it was hard for college level students to discern between what was an ad and what was a normal post in Belize. So how can we expect a younger audience to perceive when they are being advertised to? In an age where kids gain access to the internet at a younger and younger age, a greater emphasis needs to be placed on making sure they are not being taken advantage of. 

Effects of Advertising on Children: Both, The Good and The Bad

    If you can recall: how early was your first experience on the internet? Around the age of 10? Now consider how impressionable you were at that time. I know in my experience I would have believed anything that you would tell me and wanted just about everything I saw on TV for Christmas. I understand that personal and anecdotal evidence is not the best when constructing an argument so consider the American Psychological Association's findings on the matter. It is no coincidence that children are exposed to over "40,000 TV commercials a year" according to the APA. They cited studies that show that, "after just one exposure to a commercial, children can recall the ad's content and have a desire for the product." It is this strong and easily persuaded impulse that makes targeted advertising towards children so lucrative. How ethical is this practice? It is a morally gray area for sure. "They don't see the exaggerated or the bias that underlies the claims," argues Dale Kunkel, the senior author of the task force's report and professor of communication at the University of California, "To young children, advertising is just as credible as Dan Rather reading the evening news is to an adult." Obviously this isn't a practice that will just go away, as there is too much money involved in the process. However, more measures need to be taken in order to ensure the protection of the children consuming the media.

    A prime example of what not to do comes from YouTube. For many younger kids, YouTube stars are their celebrities. They look up to them by watching their every move on the platform. One of the largest is everyone's favorite, Jake Paul. Jake Paul currently has over 20 million subscribers with the majority skewing young, anywhere from eight to eighteen years old. Back in 2018, Paul's marketing tactics landed him in hot water. Paul and other YouTube stars were caught promoting a vague gambling site, Mystery Brand, to their audience who, as previously mentioned, is made up by a majority of minors. In his videos, Paul included a thumbnail with expensive items like a new car, Yeezys, and new Iphones to catch the attention of an impressionable viewer. The video itself was a promotion of Mystery Brand and all the prizes that could be won from the sketchy website. In a statement to Vox, YouTube was more concerned with creators labeling their content as sponsored, "our policies make it clear that YouTube creators are responsible for ensuring their content complies with local law, regulations, and YouTube guidelines." This type of statement circles back to our discussion in class. Jake Paul and other YouTubers labeled their content as an advertisement so are they in the clear? The Federal Trade Commission stepped in and forced YouTube to update their protocol. Now YouTubers must distinguish if their content is geared towards kids or those over 18 to try and cut down on the subliminal advertising to children. These are impressionable minds and it is not enough to just simply label your content when targeting children in your advertising.