Consuming Kids (Figuratively)

When we were talking about how marketers cater to childrens' wants and desires, I couldn't have agreed more with many of the people in the video who made the argument that this type of advertising and product placement is having a truly negative effect on today's youth. Children are extremely impressionable and vulnerable, and for marketers to be taking advantage of this is wrong. Sure, they need to make money and have jobs, but there are ways they can still do this without sacrificing ethics. We know that kids love junk food and toys, especially with any of these involving their favorite characters from TV and movies. And it's not necessarily wrong to include these characters in certain products. But marketers should consider which characters they're pushing on kids. Certain products can seem like the most innocent things, but when you really think about what they're promoting, you question what kind of message this sends to kids. Characters like the Disney princesses seem harmless, but what do they really teach girls? That being pretty and finding Prince Charming should be your only goals in life? Also, companies use these characters to sell all kinds of junk food, when they should really be using this technique to sell good, healthier things. It's as simple as that, but then it's about giving people what they want. There is a fine line between the two, but for anything to change, people sometimes have to do what they believe is right, not what is popular.