Marketing to children is it unethical

Case #2 1 . When does It become unethical to market to children? In my opinion.

It is unethical to market to children under the age of 14 years. In a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, a health researcher by the name of Jerry Grenade at Claremont Graduate University followed 4,000 students in seventh through 10th grades, assessing their exposure to alcohol advertising on television and asking about their alcohol use. Grenade noted that not only did the advertising Increase the odds of underage drinking among adolescents but It also Increased drinking alcohol, getting drunk, missing school, and getting Into fights.In addition, a recent study of preschoolers revealed just how easily persuaded preschoolers are to food advertisements. Sixty-three children were given two identical batches of McDonald's French fries, one in an actual McDonald's container and the other in a container without the brand name on it.

The results were that seventy percent of the children In the study said they preferred the taste of the French fries In the McDonald's container. One last note, researchers have found that most food advertising during children's television programs is for junk food such as sweet/salty knacks, soft drinks, candy, and presented cereals.The fast food industry uses different gimmicks to lure children to its restaurants such as the free toys in the kid meals, and even the family friendly playground area located inside and outside in many fast food restaurants. According to the Board of Pediatrics, children as old as 7 or 8 are unable to understand the nature of advertising. Developmentally, they cannot Identify the underlying persuasive Intent. Lastly, the really unfortunate thing is that a lot of parents are unaware of the advertisements the children are exposed to.

Parents are busy cooking dinner, checking homework, and the children are in front of the television watching children shows which the parents think are safe but the children are being persuaded by all of the advertisements. On the PBS kids. Org website parents can download and print the Don't Buy It Guide for Parents and Caregivers this Is a user friendly gulled/quadrennials for parents concerning the media as related to their children and family. 2. Two examples of products using TV or movie characters that have really done well regarding sales are Toy Story and Paxar Cars.Toy Story was Introduced In 1995.

It was a comedy adventure film produced by Paxar Animation Studios, directed by John Laser, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Toy Story was the first feature-length computer-animated film and the first film produced by Paxar. Toy Story follows toys who pretend to be lifeless whenever humans are present, and focuses on the relationship between Woody, a pull-string cowboy doll (Tom Hanks), and Buzz Light-year, an astronaut action figure (Tim Allen). The film was written by John Laser, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Aleck Swallow, and Steve Jobs and Edwin Catcall.Toy Story was the top-grossing film on its open keen earning over $361 million worldwide and it is said to be one of the best animated films ever made.

In fact, Toy Story was the highest-grossing domestic film in 1995, beating Batman Forever and Apollo 13 (also starring Tom Hanks). At the time of its release, it was the third highest-grossing animated film after The Lion King (1994) and Aladdin (1992). The film had gross receipts of $191,796,233 in the U. S. And Canada and $170,162,503 in international markets for a total of $361 ,958,736 worldwide. In addition to, the millions made by families going to see the movie, ToyStory-inspired material made up of a large array of products from toys, video games, theme park attractions, spin-offs, merchandise, and two sequels Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010) (both of which received massive commercial success and critical acclaim) have also helped in maintaining income from this film.

Toy Story was inducted into the National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2005. Lastly, the marketing for this film included $20 million spent by Disney for advertising as well as advertisers such as BurgerKing, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Pleases Shoe Source paying $125 million in tied promotions for the film. The second example of a product using TV or movie characters that have really done well regarding sales is Paxar Cars movie. Cars is a CGI animated film series and Disney media franchise that began with the 2006 film, Cars, produced by Paxar and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was followed by a sequel in 2011, and a 2013 spin-off film, Planes, produced by Distention Studios in 2013. The first two films were directed by John Laser, the chief creative officer of Paxar Animation Studios.

Together, the two films have accrued ever $1 billion in box office revenue worldwide. In its opening weekend, the first Cars movie earned $60,119,509 in 3,985 theaters in the United States, earning number one at the box office. In the United States, the film stayed number one for two weeks. It went on to gross $461 ,983,149 worldwide (ranking number 6 in 2006 films) and $244,082,982 in the United States (the third highest-grossing film of 2006 in the country, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Night at the Museum).It was the highest-grossing animated film of 2006 in the United States.

Cars 2 have earned $191 in the United States and Canada, and $368,400,000 n other territories, for a worldwide total of $559,852,396. Worldwide on its opening weekend it made $109. 0 million, marking the largest opening weekend for a 2011 animated title. Estimates from the New York Daily News indicate that sales of Cars merchandise two weeks out from the release of the film amounted to IIS$600 million. Estimates put out in November by the Walt Disney Company state total sales for the brand to be around $1 billion.

. How has marketing changed toward children in the last 5 years? In the last 5 years marketing towards children has really increased. Cable television in my opinion has allowed programmers to develop entire channels of child-oriented programming which also allows child-oriented advertising. In addition, opportunities to advertise to children have further expanded with the growth of the Internet access to children and thousands of child-oriented Web sites with advertising content have appeared in the past few years.

Compounding the growth in channels for advertising targeting children has been another development: U. S. Children have televisions in their bedrooms. Many children also have unsupervised access to computers, meaning that much of the media (and advertising) content that children view is not being monitored by parents or caregivers.

The growth in advertising channels reaching children and the prevarication of children's media use have resulted in a dramatic increase in advertising directly intended for the eyes and ears of children.It is estimated that advertisers spend more than $12 billion per year to reach the youth market and that children view more than 40,000 commercials each year. These figures represent dramatic increases over those from the sass. On a typical weekday, a child will probably see several marketing messages from licensed cartoon characters to fast DOD commercials. Now there are even commercials geared for babies and toddlers advertising infant toys, books, songs, and potty supplies.The Task Force on Advertising and Children, began reviewing research on the impact of advertising on children, with particular attention given both to the implications of children's cognitive development for understanding the potential effects of exposure to advertising and to specific harms that might result from exposure to advertising.

The Task Force is continuously updating their research and encouraging others to keep current on this issue. 4. How does marketing add value to a child's life or does it? In my research I have not seen any evidence that confirms marketing to children adds value to a child's life.In fact most of the research suggests otherwise. I believe that all the deregulation that Reagan disbanded should be reinstated. There are many times the government has to step in and this is one of them.

Parents are busier than they have ever been and many of them are single-parents. It is impossible for parents, grandparents, or caregivers to be every place the child is. There are going to be times when the children are left watching TV unmonitored with the advertising of fast food or toys that aren't what they appear to be. Again, there is no evidence to support that marketing adds value to a child's life.

. What is one of the most successful product lines sold to children based on a movie or TV show? In May 2007, the Cars video game was announced to be a "Platinum Hit" on the Oxbow, "Greatest Hit" on the Palpitations 2 and Palpitations Portable, and "Player's Choice" on the Nintendo Gamecock. Two sequels of the games were released, "Cars Mater-National Championship" being the first one and "Cars Race-O- Ram". In addition, a video game based on Cars 2 was developed.