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TV ads -- supplying the wrong education? (1 Viewer)

I think it is awful the way adults trick small children into bying things they think they want or need.
I am against theese ads, because they always stuck in your mind, eaven though you are not a small child.
If greedy adults really want to make people buy their things, they should trick someone "in their on age": other adults, that can think for themselves.
Why should nice and naive children learn from the biggining that hundreds of people out there sees them as an object and just want to fool them?!
 
The world is full of commercial and this fact you will not be able to escape from. So, if you get used to these commercials from a young age, you will learn not to believe in everything that is thrown at you. You will learn to think for yourself. As one of the persons says in the article – it is much better to allow it. Banning it would only cause you to get overwhelmed after the age of 8, and you would not be able to handle it.

If the companies not are allowed to advertise, how are they supposed to make money? We would not buy as many toys and other things, and the companies would lose money on it. It is not impossible that people would lose their jobs because of this…

I do believe that the parents can teach their kids that they shouldn’t believe in the commercials. That shouldn’t be harder than anything else. It will demand more for the next generation to become consumed with materialism and depression! If the parents teach them to treat each other well and about respect and all of that… the commercials will not have any of those kinds of affects. Besides, wouldn’t you rather want to be prepared?....

Commercials rocks!! ;)
 
Barnabas Collins said:
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/family/articles/2004/03/11/as_ads_seduce_kids_studies_sound_alarm/

Should there be bans on advertising to young children in general -- everywhere? Is advertising creating young people consumed with materialism and depression? Anything else that catches your attention with this article?
Click to expand...
The article about advertising to children was very interesting and it brought up true facts. It mentioned good things and argued well against advertising to children but I am against this in some degrees. Advertising to children may be bad and it may trick the kids but it’s still something true and something you can’t stop. Advertising to children occur too much especially in USA but it simply occurs everywhere in the world. Something you can stop is advertising that mainly isn’t for children but still takes place on child channels. Like for example alcohol and things like this on channels that mainly are for children.

When it comes to advertising to children it’s mainly food that gets into the children’s brains easiest. McDonalds is a good example where they give toys, have playing grounds and they often cooperate with Disney which the children love. As everyone knows McDonalds is not healthy but the children don’t understand this so the children are an easy target for McDonalds. There are many examples to where corporations advertise something that isn’t good but the children don’t understand this. So that’s a point that keeps me think that advertising to young children should be banned but at the same time it’s something that’s very hard to stop and I think it would be unfair to ban this sort of adverts but the adverts are also them unfair.

I believe that it’s true that things like McDonalds’ make children happy, popular and successful but this is just for a period. It makes the child happy since McDonalds give toys, it makes them popular since it’s a popular thing amongst young children but I don’t think that it makes them successful, rather the opposite than successful. How can McDonald’s unhealthy food make a child successful?

So simply what I mean is that adverts are awfully wrong and it works to trick the children but I believe that it’s nothing that we can stop. It may be unfair to a point but it’s still nothing you can do to stop it since I believe the world is unfair.
 
First of all, I think the article was very interesting. But I don’t agree with the kids. Advertising to children under the age of 8 should not be banned; I mean why should we hide the truth? It’s not like a 5-year old has got lots of money and spends a day walking around in the city and buys all the crap from the commercials. The parents are what we need to focus on. They are the ones that can make a different. If they spoil their kids by buying the products from TV, then they are the people that buy the ads and not the kids.

I rather think that they could filter the ads a little bit more, (know I’m not sure how the rules about ads are in America but still) like in Sweden for instance. Here, we can’t show alcohol commercials before a certain time of the day.

My conclusion is that we should allow commercials for everyone, kids as well, cause after all… It’s the parents who call the shots…
:spin:
 
Ammi honestly "toys fool children".. com on for 1000s of years has children been playing, back then there weren't even any commercials what so ever. Playing is a need for children to develop there speaking ability, their way of amusing them selves and also developed imagination which is really important to have as a child, if I child grows up with out a sense of playing or dreaming imagine what a depressed adult it will be! Toys are good for children, and the commercials tell the children "this is what we have, do you like any one of them?" usually the children don't want ALL toys, they want ONE but yes after a week or two they want another, that's not to blame on the commercials that for the parents to say no because otherwise there child will be spoiled. But come on a toy every month isn’t to much to buy. That's more then to safety the child and that's 12 toys a year. for me that would be reasonable.

Gurkan- WORD! I agree, children aren't more stupid than you are. And the commercials for toys aren't lying they are usually just showing how to play with the toy. A commercial for toys is a way for companies to expose their product. As all companies need to! that the audience in this case is children doesn't matter? they want things to?

Bozzo, yes it's not good to show commercials about alcohol, cigarettes, fast food or so on on children channels. But when it comes to Mc Donald’s, here again they child knows it's there and now it's up to the parents to choose how often to go there. Once ever second week is enough. If a child as I know some do visit Mc Donald’s every day, it's not the commercials to blame, it's the parents to need to set RULES.

My opinion about commercial to children is simple; since commercial is legal for every thing legal why not toys? Mc Donald’s don't put toys there without a reason. They want kids to come to them, to get money they need to offer things to make the client happy. Now Mc Donald’s sell salads, and you can even choose to drink juice instead of soda and vegetables instead of French frieze. This isn't to create a good image, this is because people have started to think about what they eat and what there children eats, so now Mc Donald’s has adjust their sortiment for the clients. Now it's up to you. Commercials aren't anything bad, they are there to inform you what's out there, it's up to you to buy it. There's no commercial forcing you to buy anything.

And as "GURKAN" said, we've all seen commercials since we barely could stand. For us it's nothing new and therefore not that effective.

I'm PRO commercials of all kind!
 
victorious-art... to band all commercials will make us all uninformed about new products. when ever we want to buy something we then must walk around in stores searching for it with out knowing if the store has the product. then when we find it we might hear form our friends that they bought the same product for half the prize and their product was much better and they even had a 2 years guarantee on that one. With out commercials we wouldn't know what the stores sell and how their prises compete. Then we must walk around in so many stores! And when it comes to children, they will still see toys in school or kinder garden and they will still wish to have them. It's just dumb to banned commercials, there's even good commercials about magazines for health and fitness, and there's commercials about vacations. We don't have the time to ran around all over the town to look what every story sells.
Commercials saves us time!
 
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I don’t think a ban on advertising to kids under the age of 8 would help, as they would still see all the other commercials aimed at older children. It would, of course, make some difference, provided it wasn’t replaced by loads of other commercials instead, but if it was replaced there’d be no decrease of commercials overall, and hence probably no decrease of people affected either. So, I just think if we want to see a change, we should try to have less advertising in general.
 


There should be bans on advertising to small kids, the commercial for us teenager and adults is enough. What do small kids need for examaple clothes commercial for ?? The parents can just buy whatever they want to but for them. If the kids sees some toys in a store, then the parents can just deside wether they should buy it for them or not. The small ones don't need to se any type of commercial to get what they want to have. The parents just be responsable for that. And i also agree with the article saying that smalll ones don't really know about what the commercial they see really is about. I mean there are lots of commercials we see who isn't true but he small ones don't know that, instead they just get easly caught by the new Scooby Doo toys which comes with the Happy Meal (that they se on the Tv-Commercial). There fore i think there should be bans for that. It's not fair that they have commercial for small children who knows so little.
 
Strakera said:
victorious-art... to band all commercials will make us all uninformed about new products. when ever we want to buy something we then must walk around in stores searching for it with out knowing if the store has the product. then when we find it we might hear form our friends that they bought the same product for half the prize and their product was much better and they even had a 2 years guarantee on that one. With out commercials we wouldn't know what the stores sell and how their prises compete. Then we must walk around in so many stores! And when it comes to children, they will still see toys in school or kinder garden and they will still wish to have them. It's just dumb to banned commercials, there's even good commercials about magazines for health and fitness, and there's commercials about vacations. We don't have the time to ran around all over the town to look what every story sells.
Commercials saves us time!
Click to expand...


ehm... Perhaps you would like to read thru my post one more time. My standpoint is that I don't want to ban commercials. I think that the ads provide us with information. I think the parents are just dumb if they buy all crap from tv. So honestly, you thought you owned me, right? Hahaha, well guess what... you didn’t ^^
 
I completely agree with Victorious Art on this point. The children might want something, but they have no direct power to get it. The parents should be able to know what to get and what not to get..

Additionally, commercials at an early age help to educate the children in the fine art of resisting commercials. Since it's we're not going to get rid of commercials completely, we have to deal with them sooner or later. Isn't it good to get used to it in an early stage than stumbling out of protection at twenty and have a nervous brakedown due to the stress caused by constant bombardment of information. I'm not saying that you can have any commercial on a child's channel, they should me a somewhat softer version of the real thing.

And don't American dare say that they could seriosly imagine a commercial free America. If that were the case, consider then the economical effects of killing the commercial world in comparison to doing something effective against our environmental problems. Which of these two is the most immidiate threat?

:spin:
 
I really dont think we should ban ads for small kids. How else would parents know what to buy for them,and where to buy it?
Even if you are too little to understand that all the ads aren't showing everything as it is in reality, you don't really have any money to spend on it. That leaves the parent, and most (good) parents know both how and when to say stop to their annoying kids that want's everything.
Commercials are good, but I don't think most kids like them. I think they'd rather just keep on watching their cartoons, and not get interrupted by a commercial.
Who really gives a crap about ads for kids anyways? If your son/daughter wants the new toy from Toys'R'Us, and you don't feel like driving all the way over there and spend your hard-earned money on it,get sopme balls and say no!
The article said it was only kids 8 and under that were in the "too-stupid-to-understand"-zone, how hard is it to not let an 8-year old get their way?

I think commercials are just a part of the watching tv experience, and I really don't think banning them for kids is the answer...
 
PiktorPucci said:
I really dont think we should ban ads for small kids. How else would parents know what to buy for them,and where to buy it?
Even if you are too little to understand that all the ads aren't showing everything as it is in reality, you don't really have any money to spend on it. That leaves the parent, and most (good) parents know both how and when to say stop to their annoying kids that want's everything.
Commercials are good, but I don't think most kids like them. I think they'd rather just keep on watching their cartoons, and not get interrupted by a commercial.
Who really gives a crap about ads for kids anyways? If your son/daughter wants the new toy from Toys'R'Us, and you don't feel like driving all the way over there and spend your hard-earned money on it,get sopme balls and say no!
The article said it was only kids 8 and under that were in the "too-stupid-to-understand"-zone, how hard is it to not let an 8-year old get their way?

I think commercials are just a part of the watching tv experience, and I really don't think banning them for kids is the answer...
Click to expand...

I agree fully...
 
Just a little thought =)

Hmm... My thought is that we should not ban advertisement directed towards children completely, because in some cases its really good, for example when its time for mums and dads to buy the yearly Christmas and birthday presents, and they have no idea what’s cool or in fashion. Then they simply put on the TV and watches the commercial. The parents buy the cool new toy they saw on the commercial
(instead of running around in a stupid toy store like a crazy hen for hours looking for something nice to buy)
, and little “Dennis” gets really happy because now he has the coolest toy ever, happy times for everyone!
My idea is that you should put some of the children commercials at the evening, not many, but a few, just for the information to adults.
The commercials should not be towards the children, because then little Dennis will go around pester for a new toy that he saw on the TV and it will be an irritating atmosphere at home.

:tink: byee
 
My opinion around this subject is kind of 'divided'. I think it's wrong to expose small children (under 8) for all these adds, but it can also be good. There's negative and positive sides of it. Here's how I'm reasoning; It's bad because I think that small children just shouldn't be exposed for it. They don't understand that the commercials might lie or that the toy-companies just want to get money. The children might nag on their parents that they want the new toy they saw on one of the adds, the toy that is maybe very expencive, the toy that the parents may not afford to buy. The parents will then say 'no' and explain that it's too expensive, but the child would probably not undersand and become sad, and think that the parents are mean. And then you have a problem at home, just because of a little add! The parents will maybe think "Okay, this time, we buy you that toy" and the child will probably become very happy, the problem is thogh that the child will as fastes probably become tired of that toy and see a new on one of the adds one week later. So the parents end up in a difficult situation.
The good thing with adds on tv is because the children will hear their parents explain so many times how the adds are there just because the toy-companies want to get money. That they are using the children to reach the parents money, that it's busniess, it's all about money. The parents will probably also tell their children that they shouldn't believe in everything they see on those adds, a lot of times the toy-companies use 'selltechnique' to make the children think that they want that toy and so on. Now you might wonder "So, how can this be good? What do children understand? What do they know about busniess and selltechniques?"..and so on. Well, probably nothing. The won't really understand what the parents are talking about. But 5 or 10 years later, they will! They will remember what they parents told them, they will then not be as open to the commercials they see when they are in the age of 16 as they would if they parents gave them what they wanted all the time and didn't tell them what the adds were really for. Now some of you probably think "No, that doesn't matter. My parents always gave me all I saw on those adds and I'm not open for the commercials I see today!" You're maybe right, but I still think that children whos parents explained to them the "truth behind the adds" will understand better when they become older.
Everyone that say "No, adds on tv and commercials don't effect me" is a big liar! It's impossible to Not be effected in this "commercial-society". But I don't say that it's something bad. Sometimes the commercial actually help us to find new and good stuff.

My point is, the commercials are sometimes good, but we should watch them critically.
 
PiktorPucci said:
I really dont think we should ban ads for small kids. How else would parents know what to buy for them,and where to buy it?
Even if you are too little to understand that all the ads aren't showing everything as it is in reality, you don't really have any money to spend on it. That leaves the parent, and most (good) parents know both how and when to say stop to their annoying kids that want's everything.
Commercials are good, but I don't think most kids like them. I think they'd rather just keep on watching their cartoons, and not get interrupted by a commercial.
Who really gives a crap about ads for kids anyways? If your son/daughter wants the new toy from Toys'R'Us, and you don't feel like driving all the way over there and spend your hard-earned money on it,get sopme balls and say no!
The article said it was only kids 8 and under that were in the "too-stupid-to-understand"-zone, how hard is it to not let an 8-year old get their way?

I think commercials are just a part of the watching tv experience, and I really don't think banning them for kids is the answer...
Click to expand...

I agree with PiktorPucci, The commercials are just a small part of the experience with watching television. Actually, it's even fun and it helps us to think creative. When watching an ad of some sort, we start to think about it, and dream about it. I think ads are a great idea, that helps both the companies and the individual.
 
I used to play a game with my kid, called "find the catch". He liked to get the mail and I would let him open all the junk mail especially the ones "You have won!!!" and if he figured out the catch, he would get a nickel. I used to point out things in commercials and show him how they were trying to "catch" him. It worked fantastically, you couldn't fool that kid if you tried.
He doesn't fall for anything from credit card offers to overpaying for brand names.

It's not hard to pay attention to what your kids are doing and it's not hard to teach them to watch out for anything or anyone trying to take advantage of them or trying to convince them of something. Watching commercials and talking about them with the kids can be a great life lesson.
 
Willow said:
I used to play a game with my kid, called "find the catch". He liked to get the mail and I would let him open all the junk mail especially the ones "You have won!!!" and if he figured out the catch, he would get a nickel. I used to point out things in commercials and show him how they were trying to "catch" him. It worked fantastically, you couldn't fool that kid if you tried.
He doesn't fall for anything from credit card offers to overpaying for brand names.

It's not hard to pay attention to what your kids are doing and it's not hard to teach them to watch out for anything or anyone trying to take advantage of them or trying to convince them of something. Watching commercials and talking about them with the kids can be a great life lesson.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think it's important to do exactly what you did! In your case it worked, your child did understand! So you see folks, it works! So instead of ban all these adds, talk to your children!
 
I think its wrong to specialize ads for small children because in that age children should develop individually,without getting obsessed with "having the perfect toy". The ads and comercials create an image of how the perfect life should look like, not letting the one who are living the life decide. I mean, if you look at the beginnig, when the child is born, you can see that commercial plays an important role. The small baby-girls wear pink and have their barbiedolls, while the boys are wearing blue and playing with their cars. As they grow up, their need for bigger and greater things develop. And soon they are adicted to computer- games, that teaches them nothing else but violence.

In my point of view ads and commercial have an very negative affect on children, for example the commercials for McDonalds. they learn kids to eat unhealthy food and they get actually rewarded for that, with the classical disney toy. And of course after getting the toy, they wants to see the movie, forcing their parents to go and watch the movie. And it goes on in this bad circle.

In the end is it media that teaches our children about the perfect life or is it the children that reaches a hand for help to media?
 
I grew up watching TV, I grew up with the ads popping up here and there and of course it gives a influence but is it a bad influence? I think when I was a child these funny ads with buzz lightyear seeing him flying and fighting only gave me imagination that some can fly and did that harm me? - a little imagination? - NO (well i hope not). The ads only show children what they want to see and the ads may perhaps make children laugh so why should you take that away. Do you want children with open mind only to believe what their are told to believe by their parents and at school or to have a great time watching TV and let the imaginamtion float! As soon as you get older you will find out that it is impossible to fly around in space and that you can't walk through fire! But atleast when you were young you didn't have to think about being critical and adult but just to have a great time believing that anything is possible and that you can achieve anything when your young - and then the ads can make all your dreams when your young come true because they can make it look that anything is possible! Later when your older then school are aloud to take away that influence and imaginations ads have created in childrens mind. You will be educated soon enough! so NO i dont think it supplies the wrong education to children when they are that young!

HAVE A NICE DAY/ Glenn
 
Barnabas Collins said:
As ads seduce kids, studies sound alarm - The Boston Globe

Should there be bans on advertising to young children in general -- everywhere? Is advertising creating young people consumed with materialism and depression? Anything else that catches your attention with this article?
Click to expand...

I don't think children get's dissapointed if a toy doesn't work as it should do according to commercials, well, if they are like in age of 4, I don't think they think so much about it, but if they are a bit older for example 11 or 12 they maybe will think about it. But this is reality they should know that commercials don't always shows/ tells the truth it's just a way to get the "product" famous, (it's maybe hard for small children to understand that it's just a way to get the product famous) but we older people knows and we should explain, children can not get everything they want. If we learn them when they are small they will proably understand. That doesn't mean that it should be bans on advertising to young children. Taking genarlly I use to be dissapointed when I see a shampo on a commercial for example and then I buy it and it doesn't work. It's wrong, because it shouldn't be like that. Somwhere I know that it doesnät work likeit should on the commercial but I still buy it, pople knows it they buy things to it's just the way it is and will be becuse there still going to be ads who don't tell the "truth", we just have to face it. And when it comes to children their parents should tell that the toy doesn't work as good as it's showed, or tell them that they can't buy it.
 
Small children don't earn their own money. The parents give them money or buy that thing the child wants. But they have an option: Either they give the kid money or they don't. As long as the money isn't legally the child's the parents can choose to say no.

Advertisers aren't going to stop a multi million dollar business just because a law says that's illegal now. They'll find different ways to trick children into buying their stuff. And they'll probably succed if the parents don't learn to say no to their kids.
 
I mostly saw the article speaking about sex and how young people think of sex. Dr. Spock speaks about sex as a holy thing, something you only do when you're supposted to get married or when you are in a deep relationship, but why can't you have sex only because you want to. And to speak about the "purposed" part of the article.
"To reduce violence in our society, we must eliminate violence in the home and on television."
Why does violence in the home origin from tv or videogames. A husband doesn't become violent because of what he sees on TV, but because of what he has experienced earlier in his life. I think that people saying that videogames and tv-programs leads to violence only wants a simple solution to the problem.
 
They're bad, specially for kids imho. But as long as the big companies rule they'll stay there. If it keeps getting them money, they will keep attacking us with it. Simple facts.
 
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