Child-Directed Advertising Should Be Banned

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Recommended: Adverse effect of advertisements on children

Advertising directed toward children should be banned because, it places financial burdens on parents, creates unhealthy choices and develops poor shopping habits as an adult. Advertisements are poison at a young age and we are allowing the youth to drink from the cup. These fatal advertisements are designed by psychologists and enhanced by graphic design teams targeting weakness in children and adults across the world. Agencies spend upwards of twelve billion dollars on advertisements directed toward children every year. (Linn)

How is an startled parent supposed to combat these schemes and maneuvers of advertising agencies in the battlefield of their children’s youth? The only way possible to combat these offenses is to ban all advertising toward children under a certain age. Only allowing advertisements to be placed on programming made for teenagers not toddlers and infants. This will effectively reduce the manipulation of advertising on young children. As children grow so does the overall effect of advertising on them, becoming engulfed in the status quo of advertising.

Banning advertisements toward children will also put an ease to some of the conflicts between parents and children. Countless parents are succumbed to the pressure of their children begging for something they do not need usually based on faulty advertising. James U Mcneal a accredited writer wrote in his book on the myths and realities of marketing to children that “Children directly influence 187 billion dollars of their parents spending annually, and indirectly influence at least 300 billion more.” These findings were done over a decade ago so it is hard to imagine how many billions of dollars children are influencing now in the digital age of everyone h...

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... (2013): 358-364 Web. 28 Nov. 2013

Cai, Xiaomei, and Xiaoquan Zhao. "Online Advertising on Popular Children’s Websites: Structural Features and Privacy Issues. “Computers in Human Behavior Volume 29, Issue 4, (2013): 1510-1518. Web. 30 Nov. 2013

Dommer, Sara, Vanitha Swaminithan, and Rohini Ahluwalia. "Using Differentiated Brands To Deflect Exclusion And Protect Inclusion: The Moderating Role Of Self-Esteem On Attachment To Differentiated Brands." Journal of Consumer Research 40.4 (2013): 657-675. Web. 01 Dec. 2013

Bernhardt, Amy M., et al. "How Television Fast Food Marketing Aimed At Children Compares With Adult Advertisements." E8.8 (2013): 1-6 Web. 30 Nov. 2013

Hudson, Simon, and Charlene Elliott. "Measuring The Impact Of Product Placement On Children Using Digital Brand Integration. “Journal Of Food Products Marketing 19.3 (2013): 176-200 Web. 27 Nov. 2013

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