Advertising is a very significant stage of the product-selling process. Impressive funds are spent on ads production and an entire network of specialized agencies and corporations is developed for its further promotion with the consumers.
The developers of TV commercials do all in their power to create “short-time movies” that will affect the souls and pockets of the audience. This is how they earn their living and they do not care that there may be children sitting in front of TV screens, who like a sponge absorb the music and easy to remember slogans.
May be it is not at all that simple? May be the outwardly harmless commercials are on purpose influencing on the unprotected children’s psychic, thus shaping the army of obedient consumers?
Haven’t you noticed that when commercials begin, children put their games aside and get glued to the TV screen as if bewitched? It is at this very moment when the unprotected children’s brain is actively absorbing the brainwashing codes of TV signals.
At this stage it is only you who bears the responsibility for the possible consequences of this influence on the vulnerable psychic of the young audience. To develop and sell a catchy plot to the customer is all that matters for TV workers. What is more, they show commercials during the brakes in films and programs with a much higher volume so as to put a strain on psychic and draw the attention for sure.
The negative influence of commercials does not show up immediately.
There was a turning point in the 90-s, when the American invaders were drastically changing our values by heaping a mass of short and catchy commercials on the people of Russia. Kids were singing along with ads characters remembering the music and lyrics in no time with parents being deeply moved by it all. But it was clear even then that easy memorization was the primary aim of producers, the one that they achieved without any difficulties.
This memorization has had its effect. The young generation of those times has grown up but they still remember the haunting poems urging to buy something “super-necessary”.
Even in those times progressive educators were warning about the negative influence of commercials on kids. As years went by, the psychologists who saw aggressiveness in the medium of irritable teenagers, formulated it enormous damage to children’s psychic. They stated a mass destruction of the true values of life that have gone with trade barkers.
A special experiment was organized to research the impact of commercials on a child’s psychic. The scientists recorded 10 commercials on a CD in one block and then ins erted them in a film. Two commercials were directed at children’s perception with the rest being neutral. The audience consisted of kids of different age.
The results were shocking: the kids remembered all the commercials, including those of not children’s content.
Junior schoolchildren also liked 3 commercials with vivid and bright plot where adults were taking part in game situations.
Senior schoolchildren got interested in plots with risky experiments and dangerous stunts. They also paid particular attention to the attractive actors of the opposite sex who were promoting the products.
As a result of the experiment 8 out of 10 commercials arose interest in children, instead of the expected two.
What are the reasons of the profound impact of advertisements on children’s psychic?
To find the answer we will have to go into the detail of advertising psychology.
The psychological component of every product promotion aims at shattering a person’s composure and at providing him with a feeling of delightful anticipation about using the promoted product. Pleasure occupies the primary position in the perception of the trading information, in particular with children and teenagers.
According to psychologists, emotional imbalance of the unprepared audience, that is children, is guaranteed by commercials with high pace and easy to remember images. Here works children’s hypertrophic imagination when kids conceive themselves how participants of what is happening on the screen. This is what children fancy so much and that lets game commercials draw them to TV-sets over and over again.
An engine for commerce and a poison for children.
The statistical data proves that the main audience of the advertisers is between the age of 4 and 6. They also point out the inverse ratio relation between a kid’s age and the time dedicated to watching commercial “engines of trade”. Teenagers spend less time on it than young children. Consequently, its developers intentionally influence the younger audience. It is these “brainwashed persons” who torture their parents in shops screaming: “Buy it for me!” Not always can adults say “No” to their baby. Such children are already poisoned with the commercial venom and this state of psychic will remain the same for the rest of their lives.
The “necessary and important little things” that are being promoted by manufacturers get out of the pockets of children and their parents about 4 billion dollars every year. Thus, only the schoolchildren of Moscow (7-15 years old) spend 40 million dollars out of their pocket money on promoted trademarks. Of course, Moscow is the city of rich children and rich parents… Creativity and marketing have their effect. Statistical numbers attest to the considerable income of companies-manufacturers and sellers. Hence, the correctness of their orientation towards the younger aged turns out to be really reasonable.
Ads is the misfortune of childhood
Having eaten and watched everything promoted in childhood, a teenager soon becomes a fully-fledged member of society. At the average it happens within 16-20 years- time that flies by for the manufacturers of the advertised products. As time goes by the grown-up children turn into full-grown serious customers. At the same time, the commercials, their tunes, slogans and quatrains that deeply imprinted in their subconsciousness since the age of four, continue having a strong impact on the choice of goods in the customer’s basket of adults. Some famous brands become part and parcel in many shopping lists and even certain disillusionments in quality do not permit to give up on the favorite brand since the manufacturer produces an endless number of samples for purchasing.
These adults grew up under the influence of commercials but they do not realize their dependence on them. Parents just buy the chocolate bars of manufacturers familiar since childhood without giving much thought to the cause of this choice and its harm. When this generation feels hungry, they do not come up to the refrigerator to take out some tasty and healthy home food, instead they rush with their offspring to the fashionable fast food restaurants which they visited in their childhood after watching some catchy ads with the promises of nice toys.
Human being is a materialistic machine. Cult of things.
Commercials are in abundance not only on today’s television but also in the surrounding world. The complete absence of censorship and control of their creation and use rear the growing generation into consumption machines who cannot live without daily hasty shopping. Such customers will hardly ever become normal social members of society.
The loss of val ue of personal qualities has recently become more evident. Such a state of things is oriented to consumerism and crude materialism that are becoming a criterion of success for the children who spend too much time in front of TV screens absorbing the “venom”.
To increase sales, manufacturers are ready to “get on the needle” of consumerism all the potential buyers. To do it they create the cult of production that needs to be backed up with new samples and catchy salable images. These are the ways that manufacturers employ to subject the will and desires of the growing generation, by substituting children’s true sources of information with television illusions.
Substitution of life values
Psychologists fr om all over the world express their anxiety about the psychological health of this generation. The number of their clients is growing every day, with the most frequent cause of breakdowns being the loss of life values. A person strives for a certain goal that was he came up with after watching commercials. And having achieved it, realizes that it is just a colorful sweet fake fr om TV screen. False guidelines of life become the reason for various complexes, when an individual cannot buy everything that is shown on TV. Here we are talking about average consumers, for whom the inability to get everything that they want results in negative consequences for their health and depression because of regular discontent. Today psychologists speak about psychic disorders being observed in a number of nations that live in the countries wh ere commercial techniques have been in use for decades.
Children should grow up healthy
Once our government is not interested in a healthy nation, it is parents who have to take care of the psychological health of their children, to prevent them from the mass impact of commercials and becoming unconscious consumers. Television has become an inseparable attribute of our life, thus, hard as we try, it is impossible to get rid of it once and for all. In addition to television, the present-day promotion of products is widespread as well.
It is possible to achieve the desired results in upbringing without mass media interference only by means of regular explanatory talks with children, which will give parents a chance to put the accents correctly and find for them the corresponding shelf in life. It is important that children understand that commercials are a way to make money on people, that it lacks any intellectual information and that the products they promote are often ridiculous and unpractical. Kids should independently come to the conclusion that the advertised products are inconsistent in real life, they should firmly remember that not everything is trustworthy and realize the real purpose of the television lies.
The following fact may serve as an example of child healthcare: there is a clampdown on commercials targeted at children under 12 years old in many countries of the Eurozone. What is more, there are also much harsher requirements for the content of commercials. This is a vivid example that reveals that government cares about the younger generation what, unfortunately, is not that obvious in Russia. There is no doubt that the negative impact of commercials on children is a serious neglect of the authorities.
But is it really negligence? Here the intentional connivance of the government is obvious. To put it bluntly, it is criminal inertia in the face of the growing process of degradation and destruction of our nation.
Any commercial is packed with sexual content. The exaggerated role of sexuality makes teenager girls believe in distorted moral principles. They aspire to look like sexy actresses that do their utmost to attract the audience’s attention. The healthy development of children’s psychic is substituted by focusing on physiology and sexuality that, in turn, impedes personal development and leads to serious social problems. Teenagers regard such behavior as the right one. Of course, this is what they saw on TV! As a result, they identify themselves with TV stars and start drinking alcohol and smoking. The main drawback of teenagers is the inability to think critically. This is what children should be taught, only not after the examples of the slogans of boring advertisements.
7 easy and effective ways to withstand the harmful impact of commercials
Be a good example to your child. When commercials are on, switch to other channels or just draw your child’s attention to something more important and meaningful. Be aware that by turning off the sound, the impact on the optic canal will not be decreased.
Captivate your children with interesting creative activities. If parents are busy at work, a teenager should go to various hobby groups or a swimming pool, for example. In this case there will be no time for the TV-set.
Develop their interest in “normal” literature. If a child reads a lot of classical works, even poems for children, he will not be up to repeat the commercial nonsense.
Debunk commercial tricks with easy life examples – juice does not run in a thick slow stream, thus they used some oily liquid when shooting. Reveal the true ratio of the cherished “winning” taps. Once a lie is discovered, straightforward teenagers will not tolerate it any more.
Talk with your children about the danger of smoking and alcohol abuse and then compare it with the promoted by television image of “fashionable” young people’s style.
Demolish the advertising axioms with merciless criticism. When the irrefutable statements of advertisers turn into made-up illusions the child himself will see the absurdity and groundlessness of the directed television impact.
And, undoubtedly, the best way to get rid of commercials is not to watch TV.
And the last advice for the strong and enlightened. It will not be suitable for everyone. You should not completely deprive your child of television, as it may result in his regular calling on friends who are allowed to watch TV. As an interim solution you can watch your favorite recorded series with commercials cut out. And try to lim it the number of scenes with murders, violence as well as stupid American cartoons.