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Marketing to Children



 Marketing to children is the act of preparing and displaying adverts that directly target children. These adverts aim to increase children's demand for the advertised goods and services. Recently, business organizations have increased their expenditure on the advertisement to children. Businesses are now estimated to spend about $17 billion on marketing to children (Marketing to Children Overview, n.d.). This trend has become so worrying that many people have begun to question this practice by businesses (Clay, 2000). It is unethical for businesses to target children when advertising their products. This practice should stop. 


 Unnecessary Pressure on Parents


Advertising to children puts unnecessary pressure on parents (Clay, 2000). When adverts that target children reach the children, children usually demand the advertised good or service from the parent. They will keep nagging the parents for the advertised good or service. The innocent nature of children makes them unable to consider their parents' financial circumstances. This situation becomes stressful for parents, especially those who are struggling financially at the moment. Parents usually end up in a dilemma. They are torn between looking good and capable in their children's eyes and meeting the necessary bills. Stressed and depressed parents are usually vulnerable to assaulting their nagging children. 


 Increased Materialistic Tendencies

Additionally, marketing to children is responsible for the increased materialistic tendencies evident in children today (Clay, 2000). Advertisements that target children have created a mentality in children that "having is everything" and "not having is nothing." Today's children do not believe that it is okay not to have certain things in life. It is why the less fortunate children, whose parents cannot buy them certain advertised products, experience bullying in schools. Moreover, today, most children's dreams have shifted to simply having much money when they grow up. These dreams differ from those of children of the earlier generations, who dreamed of getting involved in careers such as medicine, teaching, astronomy, engineering, and much more. This focus on money, which is very dangerous, can be blamed on adverts that show that it is only okay to have. 


 One realizes that the act of marketing to children is very irresponsible. It is unfair to place unnecessary pressure on parents and unethical to destroy the moral values that children need to have. These two and many more reasons suggest why everyone should come together and oppose marketing to children.


 References

Clay, R. A. (2000, September). Advertising to children: Is it ethical? Monitor on Psychology, p. 52.

Marketing to Children Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved from Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/resource/marketing-children-overview

  


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