Born to Buy: Manipulating Children for Profit

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Recommended: Positive effects of advertising on children

The culture of childhood has changed dramatically. From the moment children are brought into the world, businesses eye them as legitimate targets for consumerism. With an increase in media outlets, corporations attempt to covertly impose themselves into every aspect of children’s lives through advertising. The goal is to catch children early, not only to sell products, but also to transform them into lifelong consumers. As the President of “Kids ‘R’ Us” has stated, “If you own this child at an early age... you can own this child for years to come,” or as the saying goes, from “cradle to grave” (Kilbourne 45). Companies spend close to 17 billion dollars annually marketing to children (Marketing to Children). With the average child between the ages of 8 and 18 exposed to screen media about 11 hours a day, advertisers strategically maneuver ways in which they can reach youngsters from all angles (Hanes 486). That gives these little consumers great purchasing power, which to corporations means big business. Unlike many other industrialized nations who have passed legislation prohibiting advertising to kids deemed “unfair and deceptive,” efforts to pass similar laws in the US have been repeatedly trampled by a coalition of food, toy, broadcaster, ad agencies and even the tobacco industry (Kilbourne 42). Regardless of parental involvement, with this kind of marketing bombardment and power, parents fight a losing battle over the influence of their children’s choices and rights. Advertising aimed at selling to children should be banned because marketing strategies manipulate the underdeveloped brain of the child, stifle children’s imagination, and contribute to the incidence of health problems, all for the purpose of selling products.
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... Apr. 2014. .
Mayer, Caroline E. "Information Or Manipulation?; Regulators Urged to further Limit Ads Aimed at Children." The Washington Post: 0. Feb 24 2004. ProQuest. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. .
McLellan, Faith. "Marketing and Advertising: Harmful to Children's Health." Lancet. 360.Number 9338 (2002): 1001. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. .
Squires, Sally. Washington Post, Staff Writer. "Forced Feeding; Researchers Say Commercials for Candy and Fast Food Hit Kids in the Gut." The Washington Post: 0. Mar 29 2007. ProQuest. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. .

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