Consuming Kids shows how children are being marketed to through television, movies, video games, their cell phones, fast food restaurants and even at their schools. It is an effort by corporations to create loyal consumers “from cradle to grave.”
Consuming Kids was developed by the Media Education Foundation and features the Campaign for a Commerical Free Childhood (CFCC) staff and steering committee.
Deregulation Allowed Advertising to Children
While marketing to children is not new, the film shows that there has been an explosion of marketing since deregulation, which occurred under President Ronald Reagan in the ‘80s. Prior to that time, the FTC regulated advertising to children. In the two decades before deregulation, kids consumer spending rose by 4 percent per year. Since deregulation, it has grown by 35 percent per year.
“Suddenly, it became okay to create a television program for the sole purpose of selling a toy,” said Susan Linn, co-founder and director of CCFC and psychology instructor at Harvard Medical School.
Advertising to Kids is Everywhere
The film raises awareness of how pervasive advertising and commercialism is in the culture of today’s child.
A typical American child will eat breakfast cereal that promotes movie or tv characters. They go to school with lunchboxes and backpacks with logos or other commercial characters. Their t-shirts and shoes often have commercial images. Linn says she had a conversation with a 6-year-old who told her in “no uncertain terms” that Sponge Bob macaroni and cheese tasted better than any other, even though she had never tasted it.
A child gets to school and often there is advertising in the school bus and on the school walls. There is a company called Field Trip Factory that takes children on trips to the mall and to places like Petco and Sports Authority.
Seven million children are in schools that have Channel One which shows ads to children.
Marketers Want to Own Children
Children are also advertised to on their cell phones and on video games. From the time they are babies, their diapers and other products contain media images.
“If you go to places where poor or middle class families shop, it’s all branded, so
the babies start out life with the notion of consumption. And that’s not an accident. What
they want is cradle to grave brand loyalty. That’s what they talk about – share of mind.
They talk about owning children for life,” says Linn.
Marketers Similar to Pedophiles
Child Psychologist Michael Brody describes marketers as similar to pedophiles because they are childhood experts, using their knowledge of children in what he believes are for unethical outcomes. The film shows youth marketers saying they don’t care about whether their methods are ethical, as long as they move products.
Marketers study children at the store, while they’re eating, even in the bathroom. They use the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform American children into consumers.
“It’s creepy. It’s just absolutely creepy the way children are being
dissected and put under the microscope by marketers,” says Juliet Schor, professor of sociology at Boston College.
Commercialism Changes, Harms Kids
The documentary ends by asking viewers to consider how rampant consumerism is changing the culture of childhood.
Problems noted include obesity, lack of imagination and depression. Advertising objectifies girls and boys, by telling girls their worth is determined by how sexy and pretty they are. Boys are told they need to be tough and violent.
Schor said she designed a study that looked at children's involvement in consumer culture. She found that the more media a child used, the more likely they were to score high on anxiety and depression.
Parents, educators and others who care about the future of children can arrange a viewing of the film, or can view the film trailer and various segments on Utube. The film offers a good starting point for discussion of the commercial culture and for action.
Claudia M. Lenart - Claudia has been freelancing as an editor and writer for more than 10 years. Prior to going freelance, she worked as an editor in ...
