Who's got an eye on your kids? Advertisers want to have at your 2-year-old's psyche. Do you know what they're up to? (the examined life).DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS A WHOLE MAGAZINE on how to effectively advertise to children? Until recently, I didn't. Thanks to an informative and helpful Web site, www.newdream.org, I learned that a recent issue of that magazine, KidScreen, reports that "[Advertising] agencies are cautiously eyeing the zero-to-three [year-old] demographic, a group that poses tremendous challenges and opportunities because research has indicated that children are capable of understanding brands at very young ages." Does that scare you as it scares me? I hope so. I had heard that certain child psychologists child psychologist Psychology A mental health professional with a PhD in psychology who administer tests, evaluates and treats children's emotional disorders, but can't prescribe medications were studying how infants' minds work, not to help them grow and develop better, but to sell that information to advertisers who could plant the seeds of materialism materialism, in philosophy, a widely held system of thought that explains the nature of the world as entirely dependent on matter, the fundamental and final reality beyond which nothing need be sought. earlier and more firmly into the minds of our young. I suppose all the other child development problems have already been solved and thus those psychologists have nothing better to do with their skills and training than to see how young we can get kids to recognize a corporate mascot MASCOT - Modular Approach to Software Construction Operation and Test: a method for software design aimed at real-time embedded systems from the Royal Signals and Research Establishment, UK. . Not that advertisers are doing a shabby shab·by adj. shab·bi·er, shab·bi·est 1. a. Showing signs of wear and tear; threadbare or worn-out: shabby furniture. b. job of reaching our children already. Children watch between 50 and 100 television commercials a day. The average 12-year-old spends four hours a day watching TV. That's not counting the messages they get from billboards, Internet, radio, and the 20 minutes of commercials you're forced to sit through before seeing a movie at a movie theater (for $9 a ticket!). At least when the kids are off at school they're safe, right? Wrong. Channel One, a school-based cable program, has been touted as a way to keep kids informed, but it's also (and I would say primarily) a vehicle for delivering kids' eyes, minds, and hearts to the care of commercial advertisers The New-York Commercial Advertiser was a nineteenth century American newspaper. . Channel One's president of sales and marketing has said, "Channel One is a marketer's secret weapon." And that weapon is aimed at your kids. Well, but advertisers will at least be cautious and have our children's best interests at heart, won't they? Nancy Shalek, former president of Grey Advertising, offers parents this comfort: "Advertising at its best is making people feel that without their product, you're a loser. Kids are very sensitive to that. If you tell them to buy something, they are resistant. But if you tell them they'll be a dork if they don't, you've got their attention." So advertisers are working with my kids' school to make sure they regularly hear they're losers. Maybe we better keep those child psychologists standing by. We may be needing them shortly to handle our children's self-esteem issues. What the advertisers are trying to achieve is what's known in the industry as "brand loyalty." They want to have at your child's psyche Psyche (sī`kē), in Greek mythology, personification of the human soul. She was so lovely that Eros (Cupid), the god of love, fell in love with her. so that when your 2-year-old sees a pair of golden arches The Golden Arches are the famous symbol of McDonald's, a fast-food hamburger chain based in Oak Brook, Illinois, USA. They were introduced in 1953, when Dick and Mac McDonald began franchising their company, as part of the standard building design: a pair of stylized arches, one she'll cry if you don't pull into the drive-thru. After all, how can anyone be happy with out a Happy Meal? They want your 3-year-old to whine up and down the aisles of the grocery store if you should decide on your own to buy the juice that's really juice and not the "juice-like substance" that has the cool commercials and the happy jingle. They want your kids to feel warmer about their mascot than about their grandma. This is insanity insanity, mental disorder of such severity as to render its victim incapable of managing his affairs or of conforming to social standards. Today, the term insanity is used chiefly in criminal law, to denote mental aberrations or defects that may relieve a person from ! We can and ought to keep advertisers out of our schools. Parents can and should limit their kids' exposure to TV. We should counter the barrage of commercial messages with other symbols in our homes and in our kids' worlds. People who believe that we are beloved sons and daughters of God need to have strong images on our walls that fortify for·ti·fy v. for·ti·fied, for·ti·fy·ing, for·ti·fies v.tr. To make strong, as: a. To strengthen and secure (a position) with fortifications. b. To reinforce by adding material. that faith. We need to develop strong rituals for use at home and at church to introduce our children to the reality that they are not shallow people and that they will not be dorks even if they never buy the overhyped CD, school supply, or latest style of fashion. At our Baptism baptism [Gr., =dipping], in most Christian churches a sacrament. It is a rite of purification by water, a ceremony invoking the grace of God to regenerate the person, free him or her from sin, and make that person a part of the church. , we are warned of Satan's empty promises and we're invited to reject them. Advertisers are masters at dressing up empty promises to look alluring. The promises remain empty, but they're more pervasive and attractive than ever. Some of this country's most creative and talented people and billions of dollars a year are focused on conning our kids into believing they're useless unless they use a certain product. What have we done lately to persuade our children otherwise? By TOM MCGRATH For other uses, see Thomas McGrath. Thomas B. McGrath (born 1956, married, two children) though little known outside Hollywood, has been an important, behind-the-scenes player in reshaping modern media throughout his entertainment career. , contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. of U.S. CATHOLIC magazine. |
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