Kids do want the world, but I think if you give kids an allowance, they will , overtime, learn the price of money and how to stop wasting it on things they don’t need.
I hate being materialistic, but sometimes if I buy a new pair of shoes or a new outfit, I’m more likely to be excited about going to class the next day.

You can’t expect that you’re doing the right thing by saving thousands of dollars on your kid. They will learn to resent you or find other demeaning ways to get the money they need or they’ll turn to drugs (think of how often college kids party).

When my parents got me out of the dorms, and into an apartment, my grades went up, I stopped partying and got my life together. I felt closer to my parents.

There’s nothing wrong with ur kid spending money, especially if it takes away from time they’re doing drugs. And if you think your kid won’t do drugs, you are very delusional.

I’m not saying max out your credit cards tho. That’s not really spending money, but owing money.

[...] a look at this recent post on Get Rich Slowly. The author writes about an ad that he finds disgusting—it shows a laptop with the words [...]

[...] feed. Thanks for visiting!My first two “Ads I Hate” posts seem to have struck a nerve (1, 2). You folks really hate the consumerist mentality these ads promote. From the e-mail and [...]

My mom used this line on me when I was growing up, and I used it on my kids. My two teens are now incredibly skeptical about advertising; neither has ever whined about wanting the latest toy/gadget/whatever. It really works!

[...] Get Rich Slowly tears into advertising that tells parents that they have to buy stuff for their kids in order to be good parents. [...]

I need to work on this more, but I believe in talking with my kids (well, only one of them is old enough to want stuff and at least kind of understand what I’m saying) and letting them know why I will buy them some things but not others.

That someone wanted, of course, is the government or other over-reaching association usually citing a truth-in-advertising argument which only seems to apply to any business currently out of favor to those “they”.

(Please note there is not a PRODUCT “truth” that can be proven or disproved in this ad.)

In fact, you are one of the few (kudos) I’ve seen advocating that WE limit our viewing options as the best option.

If we don’t like it, we shouldn’t expose ourselves to this sort of thinking, much less act on it (GI-GO). If we don’t act on the advertisement, the company will stop producing them (take the extra step and let the company know WHY you aren’t buying their product).

But then you are left with the problem that there are more people who DO buy into the delusion and that you cannot get THEM to “see sense” and put a free-market stop to the problem. It’s those people this ad is knowingly geared towards, not you.

Right, wrong or indifferent, you cannot impose your values on those sheep any more than they can impose their values on you. Can you imagine the howling if Social Services issued an edict that parents who do not buy their kids computers (regardless of kind) are negligible?

And yes, those type people will think you ARE a bad parent if you don’t keep up with the gadget of the moment–how many middleagers remember the fits and arguments we used to throw to get the latest ATARI? And give in to our kids for iPods? Like perpetuates like.

Although I despise the direction large marketing has taken in the interest of making a buck (or couple million), and hence got out of the business, I am still the only one responsible for me and mine.

I may disagree with the way they do it, but I’ll protect their right TO do it. And I’ll protect myself from it where our ideology are at cross purposes.

If I cannot protect myself from a commercial…well, go ahead and put me down now.

What I really got was a feeling of inadequacy and stress. Almost every page of the magazine had ads for things my kids “needed”. Crustless sandwiches, antidepressants, Sean John clothing and for me… fat creams, fat loss and purses.

The articles centered around what I could only see as a blatant attempt to make me be something their standards were set to. $30 shirts for babies, $90 shoes for my 3 year old and Brats babies for my nieces (which are the most disgusting items on earth as far as I’m concerned). Thank goodness those celebrities shared the fact they spend $200 on their baby’s swim suit… now I can run out and buy the same one to be worn 4 times before the season is over.

We now use the magazine to cut our pictures of peoples faces for my kids to paste to their art projects. LOL

OK… done ranting.

But the problem is much larger than that. The unlimited consumption of products, fuelled by advertising has tremendous negative impact not just on personal finances, but especially on the entire social fabric of humanity and the environment we live in. We don’t need new toys. We need each other and a sustainable environment that will provide us with necessities of life. That’s it. If we can’t find joy in that then we certainly won’t find it in some gadget. No matter what advertising says.

So much of advertising makes me mad too. No matter how much we *think* it doesn’t have an effect on us – well, really we’re just kidding ourselves. Your recommendation to avoid it as much as possible is a good one. I also read blogs like yours to try and counteract what messages advertising tries to feed me.

That being said, I monitor my child’s TV use, refuse to buy branded items, limit purchases for anything, and funnel most birthday/Christmas money to a family education savings plan.

Refusing to buy stuff for my kids (and for me) is one skill I do have down.

I am continually shocked and saddened by the way that even friends who share my anti-consumer instincts give in to buying the latest clothes/gadgets/packeged snacks/etc for their kids. And the saddest part is that kids respond to this by getting even more whiney and, I think, less happy.

At the risk of tooting my own horn here, I think my four year old daughter seems more happy-go-lucky than some of her peers who expect to have ice cream, toys, new clothes, etc purchased for them all the time. It’s not that my daughter never asks for anything, but I can walk through a store without her having a tantrum and demanding candy. When I see kids whose parents give in to whining for treats, those kids seem less happy, they seem to be more often preoccupied with what they don’t have, instead of enjoying what they do have.

Of course, sometimes I do buy new clothes, and we do go out to ice cream now and then. But these are special treats made all the more special by the fact that they aren’t everyday occurances.

I do think buying less makes you enjoy what you have more. For kids especially.

I don’t think there’s any hypocrisy, however. It’s the same reason why I don’t smoke, I hate smoking, and yet I wouldn’t have a problem investing in Altria or another cigarette manufacturer.