Whether kids are watching television, watching a movie, using the internet, or going shopping they are being advertised to. The mall is an obvious place for ads because people go there to shop, so to attract people’s attention they have to have ads through out the mall. There are many ways to advertise to children, such as; brand loyalty, using psychologist to study children’s brains, viral, and buzz/ street marketing Ad companies spend about $16,900,000,000 more than they did 24 years ago, in 1983 the ad companies spent about $100 million a year. Kids may not realize it, but a lot of what they do is affected by advertisers.  

Advertising to teens is very beneficial to business and very obvious, going towards the seven and eight years old is very young, but advertising to babies is just obnoxious. “Parents are encouraged to bring babies home to a branded room, like a Spider-Man or a Princess room,” Dr. Susan Linn, co-founder of Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, said. Companies such as Disney advertise their “baby” products to parents, and the parents will buy the items for their baby. When the baby grows older, and goes shopping with mommy and daddy, they will want those items because they’ve seem them since they were born. This type of advertising is called Brand Name Loyalty, and can begin at six months old. “Advertisers want you to sit in front of the TV all the time, and no it is possible because of MP3 players and you can download things off the internet,” Dr. Linn says. Some parents even put their child in front of the TV while they are doing something else, and this way they will be able to see many ads. Our generation seems to do everything on screen now, ads on TV, computer, cell phones, and iPods. There are so many different ways that ad companies can gear ads to us through screens.  

When a company wants to launch of their new item, and are having trouble, they can use the buzz or street marketing technique. They ask “the in-crowd” and celebrities to wear their clothes, and they act like a walking/talking billboard. “The worst type of advertising depends on age,” Dr. Linn says. Stores like Hollister, Abercrombie/ Abercrombie & Fitch, and American Eagle are the stores to shop at. The question is “why do we shop there”. I asked some students in my class, and the responses were “I don’t know why I shop there,” and “I dunno I like their clothes?” There is a silent pressure, to those who do not shop at those stores, but there has to be another explanation. It could also be that the advertisements, and if it is, they have done their job because those stores are the stores. Their clothes are over- priced yet teens are still buying their clothes, lots of it.  

Most teens have a Myspace, Facebook, Instant Messaging, or an email account. Using these accounts, advertisers are able to send you and all of your friends’ ads on the accounts. “The one that I’m worried the most about now is the viral marketing that is going on in social networking sites, like Myspace or Facebook,” Dr. Linn says. Most of  the users usually sign on or check their email at least once a week. Ad companies will send one person an email, and if the email is opened, the companies will be able to send emails the person’s friends under their name. The cycle is continuous, and all because of one email.  

To conclude, I do not think that advertising is such a bad thing, but I do not agree with some of the methods that they are using. Children should have the privacy to live without be advertising companies’ center of attention. Babies definitely should not have any ads geared towards them, especially if they are only six months old. Sending emails to teens through emails, when they least expect it, is so wrong. These things are not right, and should be changed. There have to be more laws and regulations written because these companies can and will go too far. There must be a set limit.

(Who hasn’t seen this logo?)