How advertising affects children

By: Kelsey Ellis

Purpose of Ad's Focusing on Children

• The main purpose of advertising is to attract people and make money. 

• Children are targeted because they are easy to manipulate. • Ad's make and impression on children, what children see

and hear they believe. • Advertising to children has been a long successful way to

build a solid consumer base that will win the minds of children in order to secure a lifetime of consumer purchasing.

•  "Advertising at it's best is making people feel that they are without their product, you're a loser. Kids are very sensitive to that."(Nancy Shalek)

Advertising food affects diet

• Many of the advertisements that children are being exposed to are food ad's.

• These ad's are mostly products of low nutrition value.  

• McDonalds spends roughly $570 million a year on advertising. 

• These ad's effect children because they will most likely lead to obesity.

• Kid's meal boxes advertise shows, characters, etc. which is another way that children are attracted to fast food restaurants. 

Cont...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX--O-cCP8w

Advertising encourages materialism 

• A recent national survey, 95% of adults say that children are too focused on buying and consuming things, and almost 80% agree that limits should be placed on advertising to children.

• Ad's that encourage materialism can effect children's self image and values.

Cont...

• Children beg their parents for the product advertised.They may insist on a particular pair of branded jeans only and be against the other brands of clothing in the store. 

• When children see these advertisements it gives a wrong impression on their young minds and they start giving a lot of importance to materialistic joys.

Advertising promotes violent games and video's• Children, mostly boys are

drawn to violence.• When ads promote violent

video games it can lead to:  • Aggression• Loss of self-control

Advertising encourages early drinking • Children who are exposed to alcohol and

tabacco advertising are more likely to have positive feelings about those substances and start using them at a young age.

• Although most children don't start drinking until the pre-teen or teen years, belief in media messages that drinking is a positive or desirable activity is already developing by age six.

• It's well established that alcohol use plays a substantial role in the three leading causes of death among teens and young 

Cont...• Three factors affect the influence of alcohol advertising on pre-

adolescents:

• a) the context in which the advertisements are viewed

• b) the support of significant others• c) the extent to which alcohol is glamorized.

Sources

• Gayagay, Lisa. How children are affected by advertising.                     http://www.helium.com/items/1201759-how-advertisements-  affect-children. Helium: Family Values.October 7, 2008. 

• TV Advertising and its effects on Children. http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom/faculty/ha/tcom103fall2003/gp14/. 

• John, Deborah; Chaplin, Ian. Growing up in a Material World: Age Differences in Materialism in Children and Adolescents. http://carlsonschool.umn.edu/assets/93681.pdf. 

• Special Issues for Young Children. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/marketing/issues_kids_marketing.cfm

• Harris, Sarah. Violent Video Games Make Children Lose Self Control. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-420218/Violent-video-games-make-children-lose-self-control.html

• Alcohol Advertising and Youth. http://www.marininstitute.org/Youth/alcohol_ads.htm•  Alcohol Advertising and

Kids. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teaching_backgrounders/alcohol/alcohol_backgrounder.cfm