This is a guest post from Lisa Tiffin, a freelance writer who covers food, lifestyle, business, and green living.
I have a confession to make: I like commercials. Even though they can be boring, insulting, and just plain bothersome, on some level they intrigue me. I often wonder why certain ads fail miserably while others succeed in catapulting a brand to the forefront of store shelves. I like commercials because I enjoy guessing which will sink the product and which marketing genius will get a promotion. But what I hadn’t considered until I had children was how much power commercials seem to have over us.
Out of the mouth of babes
What changed my perception was a routine shopping trip a few years ago with my then four-year-old boys. As I paused my shopping cart in front of the cleaning supplies, Andy said, “Mom, aren’t we going to buy some Clorox?” I stared in surprise at my child because, although he was pointing straight at the Clorox, I knew he wasn’t able to read.
I puzzled over the bleach incident for some time because not only were the boys unable to read, but I didn’t generally buy bleach. Eventually, my husband and I realized that commercials were to blame. While I had been dismissing commercial-watching as a mildly amusing pastime, marketers were subtly invading my home and impressing their values on my captivated and trusting children.
Shortly after we saw how easily we had been replaced as the value-shapers in our home, we also began to notice just how much allure commercials held for our children. And as soon as we began to hear choruses of, “Can we buy this?” and “We need to have that!” from the lips of our twins, we realized we needed to act.
If you want to defeat your enemy, sing his song
Our first option was simply to turn the television off, but since our kids were only watching one or two shows per week in addition to a nightly game show we watched as a family, it was hard to believe they were watching too much. Also, if the commercials during those short hours were having this much effect, we had to consider what growing up in our media-saturated culture would do to them if they weren’t properly armed.
What we decided to do was slightly unconventional, but it made sense to us. We inoculated our boys using a principle I had learned in a college communications course. Little by little, we taught them about basic economics and simple marketing techniques used by companies to encourage people to part with their hard-earned money. The theory was that if they could recognize the tactics companies used to market a product to people, then our children would become resistant to the claims presented in commercials and slowly learn to be discerning about their validity.
We didn’t sit the boys down for long lectures; rather, every time we noticed that a commercial or a print ad caught their attention, we asked them if they thought the product really did what the commercial claimed. This introduced the idea that sometimes people say things that aren’t true and that it was okay for them to question what they saw and heard. It also taught the boys that what they think is important and valuable.
At the same time, we explained to them how companies need money to pay their workers and themselves, and how those companies try to convince others to buy their products in order to make money. Slowly, we began to see a change in their behavior.
Raising savvy consumers
We knew our approach was working when, only a few months later, the boys asked me which paper towels we used. Soon after I answered them, I heard the sounds of running water and giggling coming from the downstairs bathroom. When I went to investigate, I saw Andy and Matt busily soaking paper towels and loading them with various toys. The explanation? They were testing the assertion that the towels were so strong they could carry heavy loads even when wet. The twins were so pleased the claims were true that Matt insisted we use nothing but this particular brand of towel in the future.
Eventually, the lessons of trusting your own judgment, testing the claims of others, and discovering true value began to have an effect on our kids’ everyday lives. Instead of whining for toys they saw in a magazine, Andy and Matt would show me the ad and ask if I thought the toy lived up to its claims, whether I thought it was a good price or not, and how long I thought it would last. They began to check the piece count on building sets before they spent their birthday money on them, and they would ask store clerks for more information before making purchases.
Recently, a mattress commercial came on. We adults filtered out the woman falling sound asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow until Andy matter-of-factly piped up, “It doesn’t work. I tried it.” Smiling at the picture of my son trying to fall instantly asleep, I realized that while the mattress test hadn’t worked, the inoculation had.
Ready for anything
By introducing just a little bit of the marketing germ, we gave Andy and Matt a tool for wading through the thousands of ads that will clamor for their attention as they grow up in our consumer-driven society. Eventually, they will be able to use this process to decide if a product falls in line with their own values. For now, I am proud to hear my children constantly question the broad claims made by marketers, and I am pleased that we have been able to pass on to them our values of critical thinking and careful consideration.
This piece originally appeared in The Polishing Stone in slightly different form. Photo by Aaronyx.
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May I just add:
If you buy a product that is heavily advertised, you’ll also be paying for the advertisements.
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Having worked for an ad agency, my children are very aware of strong sell pushed onto them but my eldest uses it to his advantage.
Together, we put together a little ‘phone speech and he calls up companies and with his prepubescent voice and more balls than ever I had at his age coerces them into giving him free things.
Major corporates fall over themselves to give stuff out to kids to get them hooked in for life. Sometimes, it’s just posters but other times it’s goody bags with decent stuff; the key is to ask for posters,promo stuff and other small things…but when they arrive the usually have other things thrown in. We have bagged free book bags,sports shoes,mobile phones, a guitar, toys, deodorant,sweets so far this year.
I guess, one day we’ll be found out and put on a black list but ’till then we screw them out of money rather than the other way round.
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This type of media education should be taught in our schools (as it is in Europe).
I put some blame on the corporations for the advertsing the direct at kids. Not all parents teach their children to be skeptical.
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Lisa, this is a great idea! We’ll probably start talking to our daughter about this as her comprehension level grows.
Just turning off the TV isn’t enough! We have a 19 month old who doesn’t watch much TV. What she does watch is largely DVD-based or Tivo’d shows without commercials. She does however love books. Grandma bought a couple of Dora books which she loves to look through and read with us (books are good, right?). When shopping at the store the other day, the Dora noodle soup was conveniently at cart height for her to fixate on as we strolled by.
As you mention, we live in a marketing-rich society, you cannot shield your child from it, so education is the only effective route.
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After begging for Spaghettios based on the claim that they are “mmm…mmm…good!”, our then 6 year old son was furious to discover that “they lied! They are mmm…mmm…bad!” We asked him if he would have asked for them if the commercial said they were “mmm…mmm…bad” and you could just see the wheels turning in his head.
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We did pretty much the same thing with our kids. And one day our youngest jumped in front of us during a car commercial and yelled, “Don’t watch it Mommy, they’re trying to brainwash you.”
And, when I was in sixth grade, learning about the various types of advertising was part of the curriculum (22 years ago in the US). To this day, I still think ‘Bandwagon ad’ to myself when I see one.
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or you could just ban tv and/or internet from your home.
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[...] who details how she “inoculated” her children against advertising. Check it out at getrichslowly.org. Have you noticed your kids affected by the power of advertising? How have you handled [...]
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great tips. i was just wondering how to handle the commercial watching problem with my 2yr old twins and this is the perfect way. they too devote their full attention to commercial blocks while watching a show and it started to worry me, but not anymore
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It’s a great first step. But next they need to learn how to recognize advertiser claims irrelevant to the product. Like…you don’t actually need to carry stuff around in a wet paper towel and they don’t need to be that strong for their purpose. The advertiser has won that round, I’m afraid.
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[...] good friend sent this to me. Take a gander. The link is an article about the power of TV advertising and the sponginess of children. Kids [...]
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Great article. If only more children grew up in this way…
If I am ever charged with raising children I can proudly say I will use this tactic to counter the sometimes false claims of advertisements.
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I love this tactic. It’s a lot of fun. And our kids don’t watch actual tv, either, no tivo or anything like that, but they still pick up on everything!! Five minutes at a grandparent’s house, or over at a friend’s, and they’re asking me if they can have some Arby’s. Then they ask me what exactly Arby’s is … it’s funny, in a sad, brain-washing kind of way.
The advertising is everywhere in the real world, even if you don’t allow and tv or internet. And yes, all of us are going to be swayed for something at some point … some people more than others. The key is just starting to recognize advertising for what it is. I think it’s something you get better at over time …
~Brea
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Lol. Totally remember the “bandwagon” lessons in middle school too.
Hubby and I started inoculating our 4 boys a while back by talking to each other about commercials when we know the boys are listening. Usually it’s some mild sarcasm like “yeah right…that (insert product here) is reeeally going to (insert ridiculous benefit here).” I’ve noticed that the boys have gotten pretty critical about what the commercials claim. A few purchases of dollar store items with their own dollars has helped with the critical thinking too. Being able to buy lots of junk is great until you realize that it’s a lot of junk.
We also editorialize tv shows and movies if something really unrealistic happens. We even tease sometimes if it looks like a main character is going to be in danger and say “well, looks like this show is over forever. So and so is gonna die”. Then they all groan and say “Mo-ommmm” The point isn’t to ruin their viewing experience, but to remind them that it’s all scripted in advance.
Of course, this has come back to bite us in the behind a little because now it’s hard to watch anything on TV without 4 boys under the age of 10 chattering away and analyzing everything to pieces. I’m happy with that though.
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I started out young with my children too…whenever a commercial would come on, I’d say, “What are they trying to sell you?” It taught them that advertisers were not giving them information for their benefit, but were only interested in selling products.
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When I was in Junior High I went to school with kids from a family that had no television. Occasionally, they’d visit one of us who did. What did they do? They sat in front of the tube and absorbed everything for as long as possible.
I think it’s like the preacher’s kids drinking and smoking as soon as they go away to college. When you keep anything from your children, it acquires an abnormal attractiveness.
Talking to kids about the content of ads is by far a superior idea. I commend you.
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When I got married, I inherited a 7 year old step child who was plenty familiar with sitting in front of the TV. Every time we would shop, he’d tell me about how he loved this product or what the commercials said about his favorites. So, I started replying with any of the following:
-Is that a need or a want?
-Have you tried the other brand to see what you think?
-Do you think the other brand names can do the same things? Why not?
-How do you think they know that XYZ drink is better than the other ones?
When he got a little older (12 or so)…
-Is it fair for XYZ to say they are better if the other brand can do the same thing?
-Is there a price difference?
-If mom asks why we chose this XYZ over the other brand, can we tell her good reasons?
Before anyone thinks I run torture camp, I should qualify that I am a teacher (9th grade economics).
He’s 16 now and a great shopper. Often turning these questions back on me. Of course, my answer is “I’m paying for it.”
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[...] was surprised at the power that those commercials had over her. As Lisa Tiffin writes on the weblog How To Get Rich Slowly, “while I had been dismissing commercial-watching as a mildly amusing pastime, marketers were [...]
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[...] How to Inoculate Your Children Against Advertising. One mom’s account of media education in the home. [...]
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I do like this method of inoculation — I’m not at child-bearing age yet, but it’s been a question on the back of my mind for a while. As it is a practical method of education though, this sort of technique leaves a disturbing hole in the defenses it creates — what about impractical ads? More and more ads are moving towards psychological and emotional sales points instead of practical or economic ones, by referencing associated ideas and shared cultural drives instead of value or quality. How do you prepare for an attack coming at a part of your mind even you have only limited access to? Advertisers are more rarely making the mistake of claiming things that can be verified.
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[...] How to Inoculate Your Children Against Advertising – Get Rich Slowly [...]
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Media literacy is a great ‘first step,’ particularly with wee ones, and yup, forbidden fruit turns rotten very fast if you go the other direction.
There are some fabulous interactive sites to use as tools to ‘show and tell’ the deconstruction of advertising tricks, like this one I wrote about on Shaping Youth which we use in our sessions having kids design/name their own product/packaging, from pbskids:
http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=188
Another I like is Ad Decoder (not highly publicized, but from the CDC:) http://www.bam.gov/sub_yourlife/yourlife_addecoder_game.html
And at our nonprofit, Shaping Youth we go one step further and use ‘counter-marketing’ tactics (with the help of industry insiders skilled in persuasion) to shift motivations via ‘lift and reveal’ messaging when it veers into the harmful manipulation realm. (e.g. body image, junk food, objectification, behavioral norms, relational aggression/bullying, etc.)
Here’s a little tip sheet we did for Common Sense Media’s resource section on talking to your kids about junk food (generic enough to apply universally)
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/parent_tips/junk-food.php
To me, the toughest thing to counter-market is ambient advertising/”brandwashing” as it literally turns up EVERYwhere…on the beach sand, skywriting, mall displays you name it.
Oh, wait, second thought, maybe peer to peer viral ‘word of mouth’ marketing (the lunch table/schoolyard scene) is harder. Try turning that ‘off’—Send tips my way, we can always use ‘em too!
Amy Jussel
Founder, Exec. Dir.
http://www.shapingyouth.org
p.s. Click on our “counter-marketing” category in the sidebar for more deconstruction tactics you can do at home, and share ones that work w/us too, ‘k?
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[...] advertisers use, and how the ads make your children feel. Others have tried that strategy, and found it worked. And there’s another thing we can do: spend a little more time with the kids, helping them [...]
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[...] For ideas along those lines, you should check out Get Rich Slowly’s excellent post How To Innoculate Your Children Against Advertising. By raising a savvy consumer and shrewd financial manager, you prepare them for a sometimes scary [...]
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[...] Protect your child from the effects of advertising. [...]
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By the way, dont you find it slighty jarring that this post is sat next to an advert for Guiness, TurboTax and a dozen other pieces of crap. Wake up!
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I think this was well-written and I like the inoculation analogy. I’m glad the post wasn’t approaching it from a simple pretend-ads-don’t-exist direction. It would be like making your kid live in a germ-free bubble, only to let it out as an adult with no protection.
I don’t know if I my kids would be so clever at such a young age, though
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[...] Tiffin has a guest post at Get Rich Slowly about inoculate your kids against advertising. The analogy is great, and may save me a lot of saying “No” in the years to [...]
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Great Post!!
I thought this was going to be another “we don’t let our kids watch TV because commercials will ruin them” post.
We generally take the same approach with our kids. We just openly discuss commercials/advertising. I don’t like parenting that shields kids from reality, but much prefer parenting that teaches them how to survive best in the real world. & this is a perfect example.
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[...] So how can we best inoculate kids with media literacy while shielding from apathy and giveupitis…AND balancing idealistic overkill with [...]
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We live on a Cul-de-sac in a very artsy community in Vermont. Recently some Jehovah’s witnesses showed up on our door-step preaching about the evils of T.V.. I know someone who immediately kicks these people off his property in a very rude fashion. Not I. I love the art of debate, which is why I think they always come back to our door even though they know full well we belong to another (very different) church. This time I had nothing to debate. “I agree” I said “which is why we don’t have one.” For the first time ever, the woman at my door seemed to come unglued for a (split)second. “Doesn’t anyone in this community have a television?!” she asked in a tone almost high pitched. Her change in pitch got the attention of my 7 year old who was on the floor painting a protest sign (impeach Bush)and he looked up. “She’s kind of a walking commercial herself isn’t she mommy?” he asked in that loud voice children do. I think all of our bases were covered that day.
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Kat, what a great story about your boy. I wish I had raised my kids to have a mind for themselves like that. Unfortunately I saw my role to be “the parent” and make sure they were just cookie cutter molds like all the rest. It didn’t work.
Your seven year old seems wise beyond his years and that undoubtedly has to do with the lack of TV and his need to then create his own image of the world around him and exercise his reasoning power. What a wonderful gift. He’ll never be a “sheeple”.
Adbusters has a great video on their site this week showing how kids “tune out” when watching TV. The link is
Adbusters Video
I highly recommend viewing it.
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I’ve tried teaching my children not to accept everything they’re told without questioning it. Now I have to argue with them every time I want them to do anything….!!! But, seriously, good article.
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glad to read this and all the comments. i too am a “connesoir” of advertising, and having 8 year old twins myself, who never used to watch public tv untill they were 6 ( bad plan a). I have tried avoiding the ad’s altogether (bad plan b), while trying to teach them the ploys of marketing on my own (yeah, bad plan c). Now, they are 3rd graders who think they can’t live without lunchables, an ipod, and lego star wars 2 the original trilogy, even though i haven’t “exposed”them to all of that.
—I wish i had been smarter sooner, that’s all I can say. but hopefully, prayerfully, my fellow parent’s are banding together to raise a generation of people who are not bound by the “consumerist” “”lifestyle”"
that has just got to stop, really, really, make it stop!!!
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[...] Rich Slowly had guest post a while back on How to Inoculate Your Children Against Advertising. I am trying some of these ideas. I know that advertising definitely affects our [...]
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We grew up on the inside – my Dad was a copywriter, and he and my Mom had five little critics reviewing print and television ads: how well they were written, how good was the editing, how was the sound, how was the lighting – as well as How Is The Product. We regarded it as a particular kind of art form – still do; and the ads we’re most critical of are the ones which leave you wondering what the heck the product is that’s being sold.
My personal peeve, of all products: Food “Products” which are sold as part of a “fun experience” – rather than something to eat or drink. It’s not an adventure, it’s a g.d. snack, and you’d be better off either seeking out a genuine activity or genuine food.
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This is great!
I loved the idea of teaching kids to examine the information presented to them. I am sure kids as young as 4 years old can develop critical thinking regarding TV.
Kids are born with no filters. It is their parents’ duty to help them develop them.
Great tip! I loved it.
If anyone’s interested in more on this topic of watching TV, read the series “TV Diet”, starting from TV Diet (1): Too Much TV?
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All, since this post is still getting pings (I was #72, the lengthy one on the need for media literacy!) I wanted to update you with a couple of new data points, since the FCC is currently addressing the very impt. kids covert mktg. tactic of PRODUCT PLACEMENT within media … We’re one of the consortium orgs dedicated to making DISCLOSURE key as the embedding is going much deeper into integrated levels of content (shows, sites, ownership, embedded into scripts/plotlines, etc.) More here: http://www.shapingyouth.org/?p=8490
I’ll be posting Q&A on the effort soon, w/analysis for parents etc. Meanwhile I really like the Media Literacy Clearinghouse for hands-on info to teach kids about what they’re seeing & question in healthy manners from the onset!
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This is a wonderful idea! Educating your kids is important for money management as well as to arm them against being manipulated. Will keep this one in mind.
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Hmm, well I guess I am stumbling upon this a bit late, but this made me think about my ignoring and immunity to ads.
At first I thought it might have been inoculation through inundation, as I was ‘allowed’ to view limitless amounts of TV for as long as I can remember(my mother says I started trying to learn to read with the TV guide to see what was on). Anyway, upon further reflection I remember(vaguely of course) seeing toy ads and whatnot as a kid, but my desire for the products really didn’t have much to do with the ad as the actual toy, as I would want it just as much upon seeing it on the shelf with or without the ad.
I don’t overtly remember any other product ads, nor being subtly brainwashed. The main example of this is that I liked Lucky Charms, but was perfectly happy with the Malt’o Meal version, as I could plainly see they were the same thing. I would however still refer to it as lucky charms, but I believe that has more to do with the more complex intricacies of branding and the sort of commonization that happed with Kleenex.
This leads me to believe that my general immunity is more natural stemming from my generally higher IQ(and placement in gifted programs to match) than most others.
But I guess this will make me more cautious/observant for the effect of ads should the day come that I ever have a child.
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Next experiment: find out if there’s any correlation between how many toys a paper towel can carry wet and how well it mops up a spill. Are the boys being suckered into paying a premium for an unnecessary quality?
Our TV only works as a video player, so our six year old has seen few ads, but simply pointing out to her that some of the”movies” she sees–the endless Blu-Ray, Disney product, etc. promotions you must forward through on your DVD–are trying to get us to buy something has had an effect.
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