The Youngest Consumers
Sometimes I catch myself making purchases based on clever marketing strategies. As I was food shopping with Hendrick yesterday, I saw a box of macaroni and cheese that had the character D.W. on it. (You know, that cute little whatever-she-is from the "Arthur" cartoon.)
"Look, Hendrick," I said to my 19-month-old son as I handed him the box. "It's D.W. You know her."
He took the box and looked at her image while I pushed the cart. A few second later I grabbed it out of his hands and put it back on the shelf. I exchanged it for one made by a company with no obvious cross-marketing relationships.
For a few seconds, though, I did just what marketers wanted me to do: engage my child in the earliest form of consumerism. We were going to buy a product simply because we recognized the licensed character on the cover.
Brandweek Magazine interviewed a former technology correspondent for U.S. News & World Reports who just wrote a book titled "Buy, Buy Baby."
Author Susan Gregory Thomas, in the interview, contends that not enough research has been done to study the effects of television and marketing geared toward toddlers and babies. She is concerned that babies and toddlers are being trained and targeted as consumers - the youngest consumers, in fact, in American history.
One thing she suggests - I know it's hard to hear - is shut off the TV and remember the importance of downtime. Kids can entertain themselves if we give them a chance.
Here's the link to the interview:
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/spotlight/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003596904
"Look, Hendrick," I said to my 19-month-old son as I handed him the box. "It's D.W. You know her."
He took the box and looked at her image while I pushed the cart. A few second later I grabbed it out of his hands and put it back on the shelf. I exchanged it for one made by a company with no obvious cross-marketing relationships.
For a few seconds, though, I did just what marketers wanted me to do: engage my child in the earliest form of consumerism. We were going to buy a product simply because we recognized the licensed character on the cover.
Brandweek Magazine interviewed a former technology correspondent for U.S. News & World Reports who just wrote a book titled "Buy, Buy Baby."
Author Susan Gregory Thomas, in the interview, contends that not enough research has been done to study the effects of television and marketing geared toward toddlers and babies. She is concerned that babies and toddlers are being trained and targeted as consumers - the youngest consumers, in fact, in American history.
One thing she suggests - I know it's hard to hear - is shut off the TV and remember the importance of downtime. Kids can entertain themselves if we give them a chance.
Here's the link to the interview:
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/spotlight/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003596904
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