Advertising to Children Should be Banned

Did you know that big business spends twice as much money targeting children under 12 with advertising as they did just 10 years ago?  Double what they spent ten years ago!  I know I said that twice but I’m shocked.

This is a big change in the target for advertising dollars and they aren’t throwing their money down the drain.  They have well researched data that convinced them targeting kids will increase their sales.

The over $15 billion they spent last year was very profitable.  A 30 second commercial can influence brand preferences for a two-year-old child and that early familiarity will stay with them for life.

If animation is included our little ones have no defense. We can’t even teach them to differentiate between advertising and entertainment because children do not have the cognitive skills at these early ages to understand. They tend to accept everything they see as accurate and unbiased.

So what do we do? Writing letters to companies that direct their campaigns at our children is a lot of work and because media permeates every aspect of our lives, it may be futile.  What we can do is actively avoid purchasing the products being advertised. Nothing will stop this practice faster than hitting their pocket books. They need a return for the $15 billion spent every year. Make it hard for them.