McGhee 1
Jadyn L. McGhee
Mr. McCoy
English
15 December 17
Do you ever think about how much advertising effects kids? Advertisers are increasingly
targeting this technology habit of kids. They are advertising games and new products2. They
use online games and TV commercials which lead to Americans spending to hundred and 11
billion dollars on advertise products.
The online website, Webkinz, is showing advertising to kids like crazy. According to the
article Marketing to Kids Gets More Savvy with New Technologies, Isabella Sweet, a fourth
grader from California, likes to play the online game. Although Isabella likes to get rewarded by
watching ads her mother Elisabeth was not happy about the ads. She says,” They’re doing this
right under the noses of parents.” She explains that she didn’t even know until her daughter
told her. Elisabeth wasn’t the only parent to have this problem. Christina Cunningham, a
mother of two from Florida, was experiencing a similar problem. She was looking over the
shoulders of her two children as they were signing onto the Webkinz website. On the screen
flashed an ad for BabyPictureMaker.com. She was so upset about the issue that she fired off an
email to the Webkinz Company explaining the issue of the ad. When she didn’t hear back from
the Webkinz company she contacted the Campaign or a Commercial Free Childhood
(Springboard 116).
McGhee 2
The average American child today is exposed to an estimated 40,000 television
commercials a year — over 100 a day. According to The Center for a New American Dream, in a
1983 study, advertisers spent about $100 million on television advertising to kids. A study
showed that about 80% of all global brands now deploy a “tween strategy.” Their tween
strategies are to conduct studies to find out what kids are interested in and then sell those
products. Another study showed that American children aged 12 to 17 ask their parents for
products they have seen advertised. They ask an average of nine times until the parents finally
decided to give in. More than 10% of 12- 13-year-olds admitted to asking their parents more
than 50 times for products they have seen advertised. According to another study conducted by
the Kaiser Family Foundation, the youth are using iPods and instant messaging and getting wide
variety of electronic media daily. In fact, they pack about 8.5 hours each day, seven days a week
— which means that they spend more time on electronics than they do in the classroom
(Springboard 92).
Advertising to kids influenced $211 billion dollars to be spent on toys that kids saw being
advertised. According to $211 Billion and So Much to Buy American Youths, the New Big
Spenders, 211 billion dollars is how much money kids and parents spent on toys and other
personal items that they saw on advertising. Kids use something called the “Nag Factor.” About
seven-in-ten teens have cell phones and three-in-ten have smartphones. On their cell phones
and smartphones, they experience a lot of advertising on those devices. When it comes to
smartphone or cell phones, one-third of teens say they influenced that purchase decision. With
over 23 million teens in the United States, that’s a lot of influence (Springboard 87).
McGhee 3
Advertisers are increasingly targeting this technology habit of kids. The online game
Webkinz rewards kids for watching ads. Average American kids experience 40,000 TV ads
during the year. $211 billion was spent in 2012 for products seen on advertising. Americans
should be aware that advertising is gradually increasing.