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The editors of Zillions: Consumer Reports for Kids (formerly Penny Power) have for years monitored TV advertising to kids and published articles on the subject. They commissioned this report to identify other types of commercial pressure on their readers, young people between the ages of 8 and 14. The report was prepared by Consumers Union's Education Services Division. It surveys trends in marketing directed to kids, and points to problems that should be addressed by parents, schools, and the government.
"It isn't enough to just advertise on television.... You've got to reach kids throughout their day--in school, as they're shopping in the mall ... or at the movies. You've got to become part of the fabric of their lives." --Carol Herman, Senior Vice President, Grey Advertising
The estimated to 30,000 TV ads beamed at kids each year represent the most obvious commercial pressure on children. But they are by no means the only advertising messages kids see, nor even the most troubling. This report looks at five other types of promotions heavily used in recent years--promotions that promise to continue growing in the 90's.
A Day in the Life of an American Kid
It's 7 a.m. as America's kid awakens on Ninja Turtle sheets. He rises, dons Superman underwear, a Dick Tracy T-shirt, and sits down to Nintendo breakfast cereal with his Simpsons bookbag beside him. His sister downs her pink Breakfast With Barbie cereal, ready to pick up her Garfield notebook and catch the school bus.
Licensing
Characters that win kids' hearts, from Bart Simpson to Dick Tracy, are used to sell kids everything from T-shirts to frozen pizza. The makers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for example, have licensed 200 products, including lunch boxes, backpacks, pajamas, pillow sets, jogging suits, shampoo, breakfast cereal, drinking straws, calendars, decals, and a talking toothbrush. In 1989 the Turtles earned more than $350 million from licensing.
In the last few years, licensing has mushroomed: In 1980, sale of licensed products worldwide amounted to $10 billion. In 1989, sales hit more than $64 billion. It permeates the industries producing movies, toys (like Nintendo and Barbie), TV shows (like The Simpsons) --whatever captures kids' fancy.
Licensing is the epitome of "emotional sell." Kids' emotional attachment to a character is transferred to a common product, like a T-shirt. That attachment overrides other considerations, like the quality and price of the T-shirt, or even the need for another T-shirt. The hook is affection--for a favorite show, movie, character. The goal is a purchase. The target is a child. The problem is the pressure to purchase, over and over again, as new shows, movies, characters win their affection.
It's 9 a.m., and our American kid is in school, settling down to watch a 12-minute news program produced just for kids--with two minutes of ads. Unlike the commercials he sees at home, these are required viewing. The video equipment, as well as the program, Channel One, are provided free to schools by Whittle Communications, with one proviso: Students must watch the program--and the commercials, too.
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