This is the 4th part of our series called Advertising Towards Dummies where we discuss the role of advertising today, the methods used to convice us to spend money on a product, and the effects of advertising on us as a society. Follow along by reading the first part about various advertising techniques, then read about celebrities in advertising, and finally check out 17 sexy commercials and learn the story behind sex in advertising. Now let’s talk about kids.
A huge concern of mine with raising kids today is what they are subjected to in advertising. It must be incredibility hard for those who have children. Children are starting pre-school as early as 2. Which is good – they learn social skills and interaction with other children. It just seems like such a long time when you think about it. Usually a child is at home for 18-19 years. The thought of them having 16 years of schooling before college seems funny to me.
In this time when you are not with them, the interaction with their surroundings and with other children takes place. It is only normal to expect good and bad influence. This is all a part of growing up, after all kids learn by example. Some kids are going to be more privy to television and magazine ads. This influence is going to appear in their behavior. Advertising is something a child needs to understand because it is everywhere they go.
Commercials & Children
Kids are watching commercials and hitting replay on the remote control because of a hot model or sexual content used to get attention. Boys are becoming shallow, arrogant and superficial because they will only look good with that hair gel brand. They are led to believe that rude behavior is acceptable in society. Girls are dressing sexier and wearing more make-up to look older. The perfect body provided by the marketers are giving our teenagers a false perception of what the perfect body is. The influence is noticeable just by walking through the mall on the weekend.
Body image is a very delicate topic with teenagers. Young girls should not be influenced by hungry models wearing a size 2. What they should be taught to understand that it is advertising, and advertising only. Decades of research tell us that people strive for beauty and idealism. Depicting a beautiful image touches on the viewer’s emotions. Emotional advertising is key – people want to see exaggerated benefits, not features. People want to be told a story, not hit with technical details. People want to dream – they deal with real life all day, after all!
This image placed in our children’s heads of the perfect, sexy woman or the perfect, handsome is actually harming them. Young girls alone have enough difficulties dealing with the normal stuff of being a teen – without having to have a negative body image.
Teenagers & Sex
The simple truth is, teens have become sexually active at an earlier ages. I think a lot of this is due to exposure to advertising. Needless to say, having sex too young is is emotionally and physically dangerous. Teens aren’t usually aware of all the responsibilities of sex. Or all the consequences.
On the flip side, adult men are finding it necessary to be more cautious meeting women. Horror stories of men come to mind who think the girl is an adult – then finding out she is underage after buying her alcohol or having sex with her. One thing leads to another and we all know what happens next. Jail time for the man who has been deceived by a misleading teenager.
Teenage sex is also opening the door for an unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and depression. I would tell any teen to think clearly about having sex for the first time. What they do today may come back to haunt them tomorrow or farther down the road. Sex should be a beautiful experience, especially the first time; this is an experience that you cannot have again. Once your virginity is gone, that is it. So you better be in love and plan a future with your partner instead of whoring out in order to climb up on the ever so present popularity ladder.
The Perfect Body
Not every woman or even every man can be expected to have a model-prefect body. For some reason, men have been excused from perfection and the pressure is mostly on us women – but that is another story. Using a model with a prefect body to sell products it is influencing young girls and boys as well though: the kids are getting the wrong messages about body image and the meaning of sex. Both are dangerous in the hands of young teens who have yet to be educated. Two of my main concerns are eating disorders and then kids becoming sexually active so young these days. This causes depression and anxiety from being subjected to the pressures brought on by advertising – multiplied by hormones and just being a teen.
I am astounded about the number of young women who have died due to anorexia. Even when there has been so much publicity of young models inflicted with eating disorders and dying of heart failure on the runway. Yes, the actual runway.
What comes to mind here is the tragic story of 22 year old Luisel Ramos and her 18 year old sister liana Ramos. These were two sisters who died within months of each other, both from anorexia, both in the modeling profession – where size zero is expected on the catwalk. Their deaths did bring international concern for models being pressured to be so thin. Italy banned all models who wore a size zero as an effect.
Another case: Ana Carolina Reston, a beautiful Brazilian model, died in 2006 from anorexia related complications. Ana was 21 years old. Statistics show Iceland leading the world-wide death toll due to eating disorders per capita – but the United States, while on position 8, still has in the highest total amount of deaths in the world.
Girls and boys have so many things to deal with as a teenager, not just eating disorders. Hormones are going crazy. Experiencing acne for the first time. They start dating and have extra added pressure with school. Besides that, they are planning for what happens after high school graduation. During all that time, they are surrounded by ads showcasing perfection – but also by the in-school Taco Bells and McDonald’s… Confusing!
Teenagers need to know what a proper diet is and stop hanging out at the fast food places. This is a maze we could all fall into just because of the convenience of a drive-through. It is very easy to fall into this trap and gain extra weight. It is also very easy to fall into the other trap advertising the opposite extreme.
Advertsing is not a topic our kids are going to learn in school; it is the parents’ responsibility to explain what advertising really is. The opportunity for this could also be the perfect time to introduce budgeting to their lives: after all you are molding them into mature and responsible adults; you don’t want them to exceed their expenditures when in college. You’ll be the one ending up paying for it anyway…
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