A Look at the Other Side

Although it is difficult for me to admit, many people believe that advertising can have many negative effects on people, especially children. Millions of children sit in front of the television on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. Some may watch a few of their favorite shows, while others spend hours upon hours sitting and staring at the screen. In one hour of television there are approximately 20 minutes worth of commercials. After a few hours, that commercial time begins to add up. When children are exposed to television advertising for long periods of time, it can begin to have serious negative effects.

Because Saturday morning is a popular time for children to be watching television, it is also a popular time for advertisers to run their commercials at a high frequency, or in other words, the same commercial multiple times. Children may see the same McDonalds commercial five times during a certain program. The advertising may also be different commercials for the same product.

The brands that are advertised on Saturday mornings are also very specific. Most of the commercials will be for fast food or sugar cereals. To the advertisers, it only makes sense to target these brands to children who will eventually convince their parents to purchase them. However, advertisers have failed to take into consideration that their commercials could possibly be overwhelming to the young minds of their target market.

Children account for billions of dollars in sales each year, and they are an essential target audience to many brands and companies. However, are those billions of dollars really worth the consequences? Child obesity is becoming a real problem in today’s society, but can we directly contribute that to Happy Meal commercials? Some will argue yes.

Other arguments have also been made against advertising targeted to children. People believe that because children are exposed to so much advertising at such young ages, they can develop brand loyalty while they are extremely young.

In addition to brand loyalty, advertising can also put images into the minds of children. Due to the excessive cigarette advertising with Joe Camel, this mascot became as recognizable to six-year-olds as Mickey Mouse. Later, after the Joe Camel ads were discontinued, a study showed that Camel was the most popular brand of cigarettes that was sold to minors. An obvious conclusion can be drawn, but whether or not it is a fact is debatable.

Although the negative effects of advertising are a clear reality, the blame cannot be placed entirely on the advertiser. Parents are also responsible for the health and well being of their children. Although the commercials are there, the parents are also allowing their children to be exposed to them. Assigning blame, however, is not the main concern. Children’s lives are being affected because of advertising without question, and measures to prevent or stop this need to be taken.