How Children's Television and Advertising is Affected by the Media

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How Children's Television and Advertising is Affected by the Media

The media is a means of mass communication, such as newspapers,

magazines, radio or television. Communicating is generally what

advertising is all about and explains the direct link between both

advertising and the media. Advertising is a public promotion of a

product or service. Advertising is everywhere and it is estimated that

an average child sees approximately 40,000 advertisements a year on TV

alone. The types of adverts aimed at children aren’t always positive

and the media has been blamed for childhood problems such as anorexia

as well as obesity.

Advertising is affected by the media greatly, as the majority of

advertising is done by the media. However, it would be wrong to say

they are dependent on each other. Before commercial advertising began

in Britain in 1955, products and services were still advertised. The

method used were signs painted on the walls of buildings, or posters

being displayed. The earliest advertisement discovered dated back to

the 3000s BC.

Without the media, advertising would not be as successful because the

methods used today are effective. The main forms of advertising are

television, radio, newspapers and the Internet. Children are more

likely to take notice of television advertisements rather than the

radio or newspapers. This is because advertisements are bright, have

music or sound, and are attractive to children. The advertisements

aimed at children are also on at times when children are most likely

to be watching television, for example after school. Television and

advertising are also more linked together than other methods of

medium. Television advertising will promote TV programmes aimed at

children, or advertise toys and games related to programmes on the

channel that will appeal to children. However, the problem with

television for advertisers is the introduction of the remote control

and VCRs, which allows people to change channels easily or edit the

adverts out.

Advertising is a great way of promoting products and services but is

there too much advertising aimed at children?

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