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But What About The Children?!

By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

Legislation is rapidly approaching that will have huge effects on the advertising industry. Advocates for consumers and children have been pushing for legislation that bans advertisers and marketers from directing their activities toward minors. The advocates say that the marketing involved is being deceptive by not fully disclosing the nutritional aspects and attempting to persuade a public that is unable to gather information on their own. The food industry, attempting to heed the call, announced its own advertising regulations, hoping to appease the other side.

The FTC said that "childhood advertising is wrong." The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has been increasing their volume in Washington.

Here's the question: how truly helpless are children?

Of course businesses want to instill brand loyalty and recognition as early as possible. But does recognizing Cap'n Crunch really help increase product sales more than, let's say, Kashi?

Instead of blaming the activities on advertising, and demanding regulations, what can the marketplace do to fix the problem? The strongest argument for the banning of advertising to children is that companies use vibrant colors and cartoons to attract children to foods that are lacking nutritional value. There are a plethora of unhealthy and healthy options out there. Just because some companies have bigger budgets and better advertising than others does not mean that they should be punished by being banned from engaging in the activities that they have honed to be effective.

Let's pose this question: where are the parents?

On Harrison Patch, the writer suggests that parents take initiative. She recommends doing the following:

1. Shop local and buy store brands
2. Limit TV Time
3. Instill a "know your food" attitude

You see, advertising and marketing tries to connect with its target audiences. Children, whether parents like it or not, are considered an audience. If parents don't like the commercials and ads that they think are targeted toward their precious gifts, there is a simple answer: create an educated populace, or turn off the TV.

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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