Sharon Bedor's Advertising Towards Children

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Advertising Toward Children How do we know what shoes we want to buy, or what brand of soft drink to choose? Advertising is how, and we may not know it, but we are around it every day. It is becoming a serious problem, however, because some of it is being aimed toward our children. It is unethical to advertise products toward children because they are more susceptible, and easier to persuade than adults. They also do not have the financial foundation to support their urge to spend money on the products advertised. Children are much more gullible than adults. Sharon Bedor wrote in a 1998 national conference article about her concerns about advertising to such a young age. “There are questions about the ability of children so young to understand advertising and its intent and not be deceived and manipulated by it. Experts say that children do not understand persuasive intent until they are eight or nine years old and that it is unethical to advertise to them before then. Additionally children are unable to evaluate advertising claims.” I think that Sharon Bedor and I agree on this issue. We both believe that children are not mature enough to make decisions based on advertisements. Bedor continues on the issue by adding, “This is…show more content…
“Television advertising makes up about 70% of the total amount spent on advertising to children in the US but total advertising expenditure makes up only about 15% of the total amount of money spent on marketing to children. In fact, much marketing to children now consists of sales promotions such as direct coupons, free gifts and samples, contests and sweepstakes, and public relations such as using celebrities and licensed characters which visit shopping centers and schools. New technologies have also provided new opportunities such as the Internet and telephone services that enable new, personalized promotions aimed at children. Marketing in schools is also a rapidly growing
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