Unfair Advertising Practices (Class Activity)

The goal of the advertising industry is to persuade consumers into buying name brand products and labels at all costs. This is a business that is willing to spend millions of dollars on print ads, commercials, and other media outlets to get consumers of all ages to buy products even if the practices they use to get their niche to buy are unfair. Some of the most unfair advertising practices are directed towards children who lack the maturation and experience to understand the images and sounds that are presented to them via the television, music, books, and so on. Children do not understand what it means to interact with the media because they have not matured or experienced real life, which makes them an easy target for marketers. In reality, the products that are being sold to children are neither good nor bad, it is the message behind the content that is questionable. What IS bad is overexposing a child to ads and manipulating them into buying a product or manipulating the child to force their parents to buy a product. Children are not aware of the intent of advertisements or commercials during their early years even though they pay attention to the TV screen and the images shown.

The job of an advertiser is to manipulate consumers into wanting products. When targeting children their focus is placed on toys, games or going to a place like Chuckie Cheese. What is unfair about certain advertising strategies is that they target children whose minds aren’t developed, which is a golden opportunity for marketers to play into their vulnerability (and exploit them). According to "Media Literacy" by Potter, children are exposed to the media as early as 6months of age (Hollenbeck & Stably, 1979); that is absolutely insane. The problem is that the child has no idea what they are paying attention to on the screen and is presented with a lifestyle that they are yet to understand. The overload of ads that children are exposed to is a result of the technological advancement of our society and the overwhelming amount of information that advertisers have accessible on their consumers.In my opinion, it’s not wrong to make things for children (toys, shows, songs) as long as it is development appropriate, which means that the messages/products displayed to them are aware of the different levels of development in which the child falls under. (sensorimotor, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage)

What is unfair about advertising to children is that since they are not developed cognitively, emotionally, or morally it is easier to get a certain message stuck in their minds even though they do not understand it. Unlike adults, children need to be protected from negative content (violence, sex, language) and unfair advertising practices (overexposure, no program distinction, false advertisements)until they are old enough to understand what the media shows them and how to process the messages.
"Only 10% of children 5 to 7 years of age have a clear understanding of the profit-seeking motives of commercials; 55% are totally unaware of the nature of ads and believe commercials are purely for entertainment." (Potter, 57)Young children can not differentiate between a programmed show and a commercial if there is not a clear indication that the two programs on t.v are not the same; the signal and the noise need to be distinguished. Advertisers need to be sure that there is a clear divide between the program the child is watching and the commercial they are being shown. For example, children Networks such as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, Noggin and so forth need to make the distinction between when a show like "The Suitelife of Zack and Cody" is on and when a commercial advertising a new "Kids Bop" is on. Additionally, the time that a child is exposed to advertisements needs to be limited. Luckily,there are regulations in place to combat these unfair practices in which commercial ads are limited to 12min per hour on weekdays and 10.5minutes per hour on weekends; if a company refuses to comply they are fined an excess amount of money.(Potter) False advertisements are also illegal, for example if Barbie was presented on TV moving on her own or next to a large playhouse with a bunch of accessories and no disclaimer was mentioned. If the messages "Accessories are not included" or "Some assembly required" and so forth are not listed, then it is false advertisement but also an unfair advertising practice that makes the child want the Barbie and the whole "Barbie World" presented without knowing that when they go to purchase the doll they are simply only getting the doll.

Other unfair advertising practices include calling a child to action directly by stating "Ask mom and dad to buy ..." because to the child, what is presented on TV is reality, they do not understand the concept of deception or that they are only being shown part of the truth. They are not aware cognitively and accept what they see because of their basic level of understanding but to an advertiser, children are also consumers. Children are the ones that ask their parents for products. Most often they cry about getting what they want, complain, or nag until they get their way, which proves that the image presented to the child worked towards convincing them that the product is necessary. Phrases such as "I just gotta have it" and "I really need it" lure parents into purchasing products for their children that they would have never thought about buying otherwise. Even so, children are indeed a special audience not only because of their lack of maturation and need for protection but because they too are consumers with a strong influence over their parents who spend money on the toys and shows advertised.

Now that I think back to when I was a child I can honestly say that I asked my mother to buy me way too many Barbies and dolls and I wonder how great a role the media played in that. "How young is too young?" At what age is it appropriate to advertise to children who otherwise have no idea what they are being shown by the media? I think that children do not know what messages to ignore and what to pay attention to until they are older; their minds automatically become attuned to images, color, and sound with little filtering at high rates of exposure, which can be very unfair.