Preface: Advertising has become a 200+ Billion (yes, with a "B") industry. To put that into context, that's roughly 436 dollars spent per person in the US to alter their opinion. In Monitor on Psychology's article "Advertising to Children: Is it Ethical?", the author, Rebecca Clay, speaks with Allen Kanner, PhD regarding the effects and current status of the advertising world and it's approach to children.
Kanner states that "the sheer volume of advertising is growing rapidly and invading new areas of childhood" which could cause "not only an epidemic of materialistic values among children, but also something he calls 'narcissistic wounding' of children". As evidence to the Advertising Industries and the associated psychologists, Kanner cites psychologists who are "revealing tidbits as why 3-to 7-year olds gravitate toward toys that transform themselves…and why 8- to 12- year-olds love to collect things." These psychologists are arguably basing their opinions/suggestions on Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Stages and the developments based upon his theories.
So advertising is a big industry, so what? right? We all see some form of advertising from the moment we wake up. But where it begins to cross ethical boundaries is when you consider the amount of money spent by age demographics. James McNeal, PhD, wrote in his book, The Kids Market: Myths and Realities, "that children under 12 already spend a whopping $28 billion a year. Teen-agers spend $100 billion" and we can't forget the "$249 billion spent by their parents" for their kids. While Kanner admits the longterm effects of this is still unknown, He cites research done by Tim Kasser, PhD, at Knox College in Illinois. "In a series of studies, Kasser has found that people who strongly value wealth and related traits tend to have higher levels of distress and lower levels of well-being, worse relationships and less connection to their communities"
Clay does consider the opposing view point, citing Whiton S. Paine, PhD, who as principal of a Philadelphia consulting firm called Kid2Kid, helps Fortune 500 companies market to children. While Clay summarizes her article endorsing neither side of the argument, I, as the reader, am left with a bad taste in my mouth.
Advertising is a fact of life in our current society. But at what age that advertising begins should be clearly defined. Should companies like Hasbro be allowed to market toys to kids using psychological reasoning that would prompt them to not only buy their product but more products? What happened to the Gold Standard of going out to the park and playing with kids? It's gone from the cool kid with the frisbee to the cooler kid with the frisbee that lights up and congratulates you when you catch it properly.
I personally disapprove of this shift in advertising and hope that someday we can return back to people and not products. In 1776, the US signed the Declaration of Independence, making us all citizens. But the questions we face now are: are we still citizens or merely consumers?
1 comment:
Reading this blog reminds me one of the Dove advertisement campaign many years ago.
I believe it is called "Dove Evolution".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
The video shows how advertising manipulate photos and contents to deliver their message to the viewers.
For example, they use photoshop to change the woman's facial features to convey what beautiful women look like, which is impossible in real life.
So Dove uses this example to encourage people to take part in their "Real Beauty Workshop for Girls", which I think is ironic since this is what they do when they advertise their own product. It shows how far advertisement went too far not only for children but others as well especially women. Advertisement portrays distorted beauty of women and tells women that they should look like that to be considered beautiful, which I think it crosses the ethical boundaries.
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