(In order to limit the negative aspects, should the government regulate it, or is this responsibility more with others (e.g. families, media, schools, etc).)
Advertising targeted against kids is a concept that invokes ethical issues. The major criticism against this practice is that it abuses the vulnerability of children for commercial gain. The ‘kid market’ as it is called is a multi-billion dollar industry today. As capitalism becomes entrenched as the uncontested economic model, all aspects of life are being commoditized and commercialized. Children are taught from a very young age that in order to be happy one has to consume products and services. Even self-worth is tied into the drive for consumerism, leading children to develop the belief that they are worth what they possess. Moreover, “whilst this child-targeted marketing used to concentrate on sweets and toys, it now includes clothes, shoes, a range of fast foods, sports equipment, computer products and toiletries as well as adult products such as cars and credit cards.” (Beder 1998) This is an alarming state of affairs with impending dangerous consequences. Numerous parties are held responsible for the causes and consequences of child marketing. These include parents, business corporations, school administrators and even the government. But who holds the bulk of the responsibility? This is the question this essay will try to answer. Firstly, the essay will outline the depth and implications of the problem and the subsequently identify the party most responsible for resolving this crisis.
With each passing decade since the beginning of the twentieth century, advertisers and businesses have increasingly intruded on the behavior of children. Manipulating the psychology of the impressionable minds of children elicits moral issues. But the mandate of business is such that the profit motive always trumps social responsibility. There is a whole industry that has developed over addressing and commercially profiting from the ‘kid market’. The terminology ridden child marketing theories it has given rise to raise troubling questions. To begin with marketers specializing in it treat human beings as units of consumption, stripping all sanctity and respect that they deserve. More worryingly, the members of the child market are fairly helpless and dependent individuals who will take many more years for physically and mentally maturing. With their faculties not yet fully formed to critically think and discern the claims of advertising, children are easy targets for psychological manipulation. It is this softness that child-oriented Public Relations industry seeks to take advantage of. Several negative consequences of this practice are identified, some of which pertain to health. For example, “encouraging vulnerable children to consume great amounts of fatty, sugary and salty food is unethical because it would create obese, unhealthy youngsters, with bad eating habits that will last for a lifetime.” (Moolekary 2011) It is a ruthless market-strategy that is a marker of capitalist culture. It is revolting the very least and is deserving of contempt. However, “soulless advertisers and rapacious marketers alone cannot account for the explosion of the kids’ 4-12 market, which has just about tripled since 1990, now raking in around $30 billion annually” (Dan 2001)