Ads and their companies have caused major issues. Parents believe that the ads that are shown are influencing their children. Especially as they go on the internet or watch TV. However, the advertising companies believe that they are not the only ones to blame for the issues that have arisen; they believe that the parents of the children are also to blame. In order to try and fix these issues, many companies began to make changes to their products. Parents continue to blame these fast food companies while the fast food companies do not believe they should be to blame. Fast food companies believe that parents are as much to blame as their companies are. Gary Becker points out, “If children nowadays are heavier because they are less …show more content…
Although many businesses believe that they do not target children, many of them do. Kids may be watching TV or on social media and they can become influenced by the ads or commercials. Everywhere you look you see advertisements and even though you may not notice it, but it still influences your brain. “One study has shown that children find it harder to recognize advertisements on websites than they do on television; 6 year olds only recognized a quarter of the ads, 8 year olds recognize half of the ads, and 10and 12 year olds recognize three quarters of the ads” (The American Psychological Association). Many advertising companies believe that they shouldn’t be blamed for any influence on children. They argue that for the past fifty years they continue to advertise the same way and it is changing how people view the advertisements. Junk foods advertisement has a major impact on how the kids chose the kinds of food they want to eat. Marion Nestle explained, “The reasons are easy to understand: children control increasing amounts of money, and society has granted them increasing responsibility for purchasing decisions.” As kid get older they tend to make more decisions on what they eat. Most of the time parents allow kid help grocery shop of dinners and they influence parents to buy food that they tend to see advertised.
Companies like General Mills, McDonald’s, and Kraft are
“Congress should ban advertising that preys upon children, it should stop subsidizing dead-end jobs, it should pass tougher food safety laws, it should protect American workers from serious harm, it should fight against dangerous concentrations of economic power (Schlosser). People must wonder how is it that a fast food company has so much customers. Advertising is the answer. The power advertisers have to be able to influence so many people 's decisions and affect people’s lives especially the lives of young children is incredible. Advertisers know just who to target and they research how too. In Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation, Schlosser explains to the readers how advertisers use techniques to draw in customers. A technique used is the “cradle-to-grave” which focuses on children to make them lifelong consumers. Like many researcher, Schlosser, has found that advertising to children when they are younger makes them be loyal to the company, and a child 's “brand loyalty” may begin as early as the age of two (43). Fast food advertising reaches out and harms families everywhere. This is why it is crucial that the people to make changes in their lives and change the way fast food is affected us.
Children are easily influenced, and this can be taken advantage of in the commercial industry. Thy have the desire to fit in and do what is considered “cool”. Many people believe that people use this desire to their own benefit in order to create profit. While it’s true children are easily manipulated by commercials, these commercials and be beneficial to the child's development. Commercials can be used to bring good ideas and good life skills to children that will lead them to being a successful adults. Commercials aimed at children are ethical because they can reinforce positive behaviors and good ideals. This is shown through articles, press and reports.
One of the main effects marketing take effects on youth is they're health. According to the documentary The Myth of Choice: How Junk Food Marketers Target Our Kids. 1 in 3 kids each day eat fast food, causing cancer, obesity, and diabetes type 2. This shows that if advertisers don't care about kids health or they're oblivious to the affects. And it's most likely not going to change. Also from the documentary, The Myth of Choice: How Junk Food Marketers Target Our Kids. It states “engineered to target parts of your brain that want fat and sugar”. Junk food companies hire scientists to like it said, target the parts of the brain that want your body to have that type of stuff. So is basically addicts you to the food so you'll always want to have
Advertisements are everywhere. They are a major part of modern day society. Whether it be a television commercial, an internet banner, or a billboard, advertisements influence people of all ages, but they affect a certain age group much more than others. Children ranging from toddlers to teenagers are exposed to thousands upon thousands of advertisements each year. Some of these advertisements are damaging to children, while others are a positive influence. Advertisements can either be used as a tool or a weapon. Food advertisements and manipulation strategies are both positive and negative, and how companies use them decides whether or not marketing to children is ethical.
Daniel Weintraub in the article,”The Battle Against, Fast Food Begins in the Home,” argues that parents are at fault for their children being overweight, not the fast food industry. Weintraub supports his argument by explaining why it’s the parents fault using data and research. The author’s purpose is to inform the reader that parents need to take responsibility for their actions so that people stop blaming others and stop obesity. The author writes in an informal tone for the adults with children in the home.
Parents and guardians are partially to blame because “parents can make an informed decision about the foods they feed their children” (Source E); parents are the ones who choose and buy the food for their children. It is simple for a grown adult to refuse their child’s guilt and make the executive decision: “to reduce kids’ waistlines” (Source E). Along with the everlasting goal to have a striving world, is to have a healthy world, and parents need to take the initiative in order to create a healthy environment for the world’s most important future - the children. An adult has the ability to see past the persuasive advertising techniques which cater so well to young children, so it is their responsibility to protect the younger generations from harmful and unhealthy
Companies are continuously in search of innovative marketing techniques by encouragingly establishing individuals to purchase their advertised products. As intelligent as marketing companies are, they are indeed aware of the fact that adults are more likely to watch an advertisement and detect why they should or should not purchase such product. In such instances where the company cannot reach the focus of an adult, parent, or parental figure, marketers will target young children and teens in their advertising campaigns. Advertising campaigns targeting the youth have significantly impacted the ethical consideration in the children’s market through media, ethics, as well as food advertising to children.
They see it; they want it. Advertising to children is turning a want into a responsive nag to a parent, like a reflex. Every media outlet advertises, and companies like popular fast food restaurants target children. In the process of fattening the children, will their reflexes get slower? At some point in every kid’s life, they see an advertisement for a food or toy they want. This want leads to nagging of the parent until they give in. Although it is highly effective and profitable, fast food companies should not be able to have aggressive advertisement campaigns targeting children because it corruptly brainwashes them and promotes unhealthy life choices.
The fast food industry has discovered that young children have buying power. Armed with that information the fast food industry has directed their advertising towards children. They place ads where they know young children will see them. The fast food industry spends millions of dollars on television ads. These ads run during prime viewing times for children. They also make sure their products are strategically placed where children
Fast food advertisement agencies take advantage of the ignorance of children to scam them into wanting unhealthy meals. Each year, the fast food industry spends over $3 million of advertising targeted towards children. Half of television advertisement is used during children’s shows and with cartoons. Out of all the factors
Many influential bodies in the food industry openly exploit children by presenting them with alluring commercials in an attempt to get them to develop interest in certain products. "Advertising directed to children, particularly on television, is heavily populated by commercials for foods that pose adiposity and related health risks for children when consumed in abundance" (Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth 2 301). Taking this into account, it would appear that the social order is practically being forced to stand by and watch as children are used as a tool to sell products.
Marketing towards children should have some form of restriction. A number of ethical perspectives confirms this fact, which is well elucidated in Stephanie Clifford's "A Fine Line When Ads and Children Mix" which ran in the New York Times. The basic premise for why there needs to be restrictions on advertising aimed towards children is that children do not have the cognitive prowess or development to distinguish between clever marketing and items of consumption that they actually need. This fact holds true not only for food items, but for other items including toys and clothing as well. From a deontological perspective, then, it is inherently wrong or immoral to take advantage of someone, which is what children's advertising is essentially doing. And from a consequentialist perspective, advertising towards children can produce harmful effects. Children lack temperance, and the steady influx of promotional material directed towards them has the proclivity to make them incontinent from a variety of perspectives including that involving the food they eat, to the toys they play with. These unhealthy outcomes would make a consequentialist attempt to regulate advertising towards children.
There are some specific and real problems that advertising can cause upon children (William A. Ramsey). Fast-food restaurant advertising it’s influencing our children to be obese. Childhood obesity around the world is causing worries, especially detrimental as its effect carries on into parenthood. The ratio of children 's who are overweight has approximately tripled in the same period, reaching fourteen percent (Center for disease control
About a third of children in the U.S. are considered overweight or obese, and researchers believe television advertising is a significant contributing factor (4). Exposure to television advertising is basically universal and the ads present foods as desirable and attractive. Children have been shown to be far more receptive to television advertising messages than classroom lessons (3). It leaves a harder lasting impression on them because the food products are presented in a cool, fun way that attracts children. Most of the time, children would pick foods that they may not even like, simply because they think it’s the cool thing to eat and once a kid gets his mind set on what they want, it is very hard to steer them away from wanting it. Television ads for foods geared toward children are usually fun, and bright with animations and lots of cool characters that the children can relate to. This directly influences the child’s food preference and unfortunately most of these ads are for processed, unhealthy food products like cereals, snacks, fast food, and soft drinks. In the U.S., there are few restrictions on food ads, but that's not the case in the U.K., where junk food can't be marketed on children's television (4).
Picture this you're watching your favorite show and then all of a sudden this pops up“IT WILL LITERALLY MAKE YOU SKINNY IN LITERALLY 2 HOURS! ONLY $19.99 AND IF YOU ORDER NOW YOU’LL GET 2 FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!!!” I bet you can literally picture it and hear it perfectly but this is the problem with are advertising. Advertising is a big part of our culture but it's taken a toll on our people including the children. Advertising has effects on our people's bodies, self esteem, and is manipulative.