Merging Media and the Market

“Stopping advertising to save humanity …

is like stopping the clock to save time”

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My nine-year-old niece sang me a song to day starting with the word viva.  Was it the “Viva la viva loca” song? No. The Viva Las Vegas” jingle: of course not.  I just had the luxury of experiencing my little, cute-as-a-button, blonde haired, blue eyed niece’s version of the “Viva Viagra” jingle during my recent visit.  And let me note that my niece is very sheltered compared to the average media exposure of today’s kids.  She can’t use a computer or the Internet without the aid of a grown-up.  Come to think of it, the only time I’ve ever really seen her on the computer by herself was when she got a Webkinz for her birthday: But she couldn’t really navigate the Webkinz Web site by herself and needed constant help from me and her mom.  Her television time is also kept to a minimum, being that her parents control when the T.V. is on and pick the programming.  I’m estimating she gets 2-hours of exposure to television a day, but she’s mostly a secondary participant. 

At any rate, her rendition of the “Viva Viagra” got me thinking about advertising and children.  There are many critics in regards to advertising to children saying that if companies truly wanted to do the right thing in this situation they would stop marketing to children altogether.  So let’s imagine that we stop advertising to children altogether.  Children would still be exposed to the advertising communications that are intended for adults, like the “Viva Viagra” commercial.  It’s common knowledge that children’s minds are like little sponges able to soak up all that they encounter with greater ability than adults.  While they may not be able to put these encounters into context as many adults can, they experience, and recall these encounters nonetheless: Hence, my niece singing me “Viva Viagra”.

As such, we can’t stop marketing to children without stopping advertising altogether.  At least most advertising experiences that target children send age-appropriate messages and attempt to send some type of positive message along with the corporate one.  While I’m not an advocate for constant unregulated marketing to children; how easy we forget that several companies also sent children beneficial messages: brush your teeth, get out and exercise, etc.  The way I see it, we have to take the good along with the bad when it comes to advertising to children.  While there is no doubt that companies market to children, we must remember that most try to keep these messages age-appropriate, have resources for parents, attempt to protect the privacy and experiences that children  have with their product or through their Web site, and donate to charitable institutions that benefit children. 

I’m not going out on much of a limb here with the general observation that not all parents are good ones.  If it truly does take ‘a village to raise a child’ we have to remember that corporations that advertise to children also communicate beneficial messages to children who aren’t necessarily getting them from their parents.  So while kids may not really need that new sugary cereal: that sugar cereal’s Web site also reminds kids to get outside and play and gives them age-appropriate ideas on how to be physically active and eat right.  You and I both, know that not all parents teach or reinforce to their kids why it is important to eat right, exercise, be polite, study hard, etc. etc. etc.

While I’ve previously discussed that some products marketed to children aren’t up-to-par, i.e. Bratz; we also need to realize that not all advertisements that target children are bad.  And stopping advertising to children altogether is definitely not the answer.  Stopping advertising to children means stopping all advertising in general because children would still experience advertising that wasn’t meant for them.  While no one will admit to really ‘liking’ advertising, except maybe during the Super Bowl, it is an integral part of our economy, life, and the way we act as a culture: both good and bad.  But I guess I’m just one of those people who think there’s more good than bad in the world: and more good than bad in terms of advertising in general and more good than bad when it comes to advertising to children.