When ads for children become unethical

Raaya Cummings

rc348017@ohio.edu

Source: The Drum

Most of us can agree that children are both impressionable and extremely literal, yet they are a largely identified market for advertisers. As a result of this, arguments have been made by many parents against these advertisers, questioning the ethics behind ads created intentionally to target children–and with much reason.

Advertising towards kids can not only be deceptive but also holds the potential to place a child in danger. Nevertheless, according to the International Chamber of Commerce, as children are a major influence towards their parents' shopping decisions and continue to represent a large purchasing spend, they will remain an ultimate target for advertisers. As a result, it's important for marketers to acknowledge what lines should not be crossed when considering the ethics behind such tactics. There are a few ethical guidelines encouraged by Marketing Insider Group to consider in order to avoid putting anyone in danger and ultimately encourage and maintain consumer trust.

First, as previously stated, a large concern held against marketing toward children is the apparent opportunity of deception. This is done when a child's level of decision making is exploited by lying, confusing or misleading them about a product. Another example of deception includes online ads that are purposely difficult to exit out of and in turn convinces the child that they must make a purchase in order to continue what they are doing. It's important to be aware that children are easily manipulated and that is is unethical to abuse that. When taking this into account, be truthful about every aspect of a product, and when ads are online, make them clear and easy to navigate.

Second, advertisers need to ensure that the products they are advertising have been created specifically for children. In addition to this, ads designed for adult products need to be executed in a way that they cannot be confused as being for kids. These were identified as necessary steps to ensure children are not seeking out inappropriate or harmful products. 

Finally, advertisers must understand that the choice to identifying children as a target market places the responsibility of keeping them safe in their hands. With that being said, the product being sold needs to have appropriate security measures in place in order to protect the information that may be entered by the child such as emails, phone numbers, names or birthdays.