Should advertisers be allowed to target children at Christmas?
...’s "wish lists" for presents. Early childhood educators have expressed concern that many of the media-promoted toys do not extend children’s play, but limit it. Children can get much enjoyment from other simpler and cheaper toys. These days, many mass produced toys are not designed to meet the needs of children, but more to meet the objectives of a range of industries who are jointly marketing to children. Children are exposed to toy advertising on television. Children watching commercials on children’s television see up to 15 minutes per hour of commercials (that is, about 30 commercials per hour) for a range of products including toys (and especially in the pre Christmas season). “Pester Power ITV 23rd of November 1998” Toys are promoted to children via television in a variety of other ways as well. These include links with fast food chains (as premium offers), via toy-linked cartoon series, spin-off products from children’ programs, and through hosted segments within television programs. Australian children on average watch 2 hours and 30 minutes of TV per day. In terms of advertising this means that Australian children watching commercial TV are likely to see 30 commercials every hour, 75 commercials a day and 23,000 commercials per year on TV alone. Most advertisements (out of toy season) will be for confectionery, soft drinks, sugared cereals and fast food chains. This promotes obesity, which goes against government regulations to try and encourage healthy eating habits. The government still doesn’t even stop the use of toy gifts in fast food advertisements. Children are effective influencers of family purchasers, pestering their parents to buy products that they neither need nor really understand. A British study reported that 85% of a sample of 4-13 year olds acknowledged that they had asked their parents to buy advertised products and 66% claimed that their parents had met their request. Advertising pressures can produce significant conflict between parents and children. Many vulnerable families succumb, spending money they can least afford. Pester power often works. When parents give in to their children they are letting their children grow up without any principles or values, so when they’re older and actually have to provide for themselves, are unable to do this. There are many advantages of advertisers targeting children at Christmas. Here are just few examples. Advertising teaches children to become selective shoppers when they are older a...