WEBVTT - Should Advertising to Kids Be Banned? 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:06.680 Hey, we're going to Send Francisco. That's right, and we're 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:09.400 gonna have flowers in our hair San Francisco because we 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:13.080 are performing at s F Sketch Fest for the second 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:16.400 year running. We can't wait. We are doing a rare 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:21.079 afternoon show on Sunday, January at one pm. Go to 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.400 s F Sketch Fest dot com to enquire about tickets 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.040 and get them fast because they're gonna sell out because 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:28.680 you guys are always so good to us and we 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.520 can't wait to see everybody there. S F Sketch Fest 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:38.639 dot com Sunday afternoon, one pm January. Bye bye. Welcome 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:41.640 to Stuff you should know from the house Stuff Works 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:51.280 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.920 and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and Jerry's over there. 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.000 It's nice and cool in here in the Studiosdo one 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:03.040 a it's a it is, Yeah, don't tell us what 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:07.160 happens if you're listening to this after Tuesday the right 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:13.679 spoiler free zone. Hey, feeling nervous tents by the puke? Nope, 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:16.480 none of the above. Well, good man, you look like 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:21.520 you're jelling like a felon. Chuck that means, don't you 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:26.679 remember those? Uh, that doesn't matter. Um, do you remember 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:32.280 being a child? Uh? Sure? Do you remember? About two 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:37.400 weeks ago when we released our action figure episode do Well, 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:40.399 we talked a lot about being a child and about toys, 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:44.160 and we even touched on advertising and deregulation, which we 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.120 will get into again a little bit here. But um, 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.760 if you were a child and you watch television, basically 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:54.720 at any point from the nineteen forties on, you were 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:58.440 probably advertised to in some form of fashion. But early 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:01.720 on it was kind of clunky, right, Like the first day, 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:03.400 I think the first dad ever on TV was a 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:05.680 bull of a watch ad and it just showed a 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.360 bull of a watch ticking off sixty seconds. Say what 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:13.560 more do you need? Apparently nothing? Right? And then they thought, well, hey, 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.639 people love to tune in to watch the hosts, so 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:20.960 we'll have the hosts just pitch you know, coult brand 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.040 firearms or whatever. You know. I thought you could say 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:27.000 malt liquor. You know that came later first? Is the 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:33.920 firearms well together? Actually one makes the other go off? Uh? 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:36.680 So they would have like hosts read this stuff. So 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:40.560 when kids programming came into the fold, that it followed 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:43.000 that kind of natural progression where like an ad was 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:47.400 just this, uh, the host suddenly saying like, hey, kids, 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:51.560 by the way, you will love these firecrackers that have 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.800 my picture on it. Right, who was that kind of 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:57.320 kind of hockey there was? Actually I found this one 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.160 really great UM article on retising to children, and it 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:05.360 talks about this nineteen fifties show called Miss Francis is 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:09.920 Ding Dong School and Ms Francis she would like read 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.720 to the kids, talk to them like they were kids. 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:14.880 But just basically it was a cute little kids show 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:17.239 from what I can gather. Then every once in a 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:19.200 while she would take kids, it's time for a very 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:22.400 special message. Go get your parents and bring them in 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.560 to hear this special message. And the kids would run 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:27.280 and get their parents and bring them in to see 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.880 the TV. And uh, Miss Francis would fool everybody by 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.400 pitching an ad basically. So these are like the early ads, right. 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:37.200 It wasn't until I think nineteen fifty two that the 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:41.800 actual first ad for kids product, a toy by the 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:46.760 name of Mr Potato Head, first hit the airwaves. That's right, Uh, 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:51.360 you know, fifty ninety two wasn't that long. Ago. But um, 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.880 things have really really changed since then. And one of 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.960 the big reasons why it's changed just because companies and 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:07.080 corporations and toymakers and fast food chains and candy, candy ears, 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:11.280 candy Yeah, sure is that a word. Sure it is now, 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:19.400 taffy makers. They all know that. Kids. There's a lot 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:25.000 of money, not only in what kids want to buy 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:29.200 for themselves, but the influenced kids have on their family 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.160 and what they do. It's blockbuster. And not only that, 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.200 but like you know, we talked we're gonna talk about 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:37.160 this a little bit later, but indoctrinating these kids at 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:41.720 a very young age as brand loyalists because like, get 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.560 them while they're young. Yeah, and if you you, if 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:46.719 you do that, you're kind of like planning seeds that 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:50.280 will hopefully grow into something where you're like, well, Colgate 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:53.120 toothpaste love me. I remember that from being a kid. 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.560 So when I don't want the cartoons, I want to 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.080 be loved by mother Colegate. Yeah, so that's what you 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:02.080 buy as an adult. What was the uh we put 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.680 holes in teeth? Remember that vaguely? I don't know who 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:07.760 might have been a little before your time, it was 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:12.080 I don't remember the toothpaste may have been Colgate. No, 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:14.960 I think it was the Crest team, but it was 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:20.360 just a full on super hero team of cavity fighters. 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:24.560 I remember them wedged into cartoon programming. Yes, I remember that, 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:28.320 and uh, you know as well, we'll talk about it, 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:29.880 but I couldn't tell the difference between that in the 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:33.159 cartoon I was watching. I remember being at school and 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.120 being taught how to brush my teeth with those same guys. Yea, 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.240 the Crest Cavity Fighters or something like that. Yeah, and 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.599 of course we're talking about fighting cavities. And as you'll 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:48.080 see in some of this material, like sometimes these brands 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:51.480 try and push things for good, but they're still pushing 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:54.719 their brand. Yeah. That's the thing. Man. It's so easy 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:57.600 to just be like, oh, wow, Colgate really does love 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:01.159 my children or Crest really does care about my kids teeth. No, 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:04.479 they don't. They do not. They don't love you or 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:06.960 your family. They don't actually care about your kids teeth. 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.800 They care about creating this kind of relationship between the 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:13.800 brand and your family. They care that your kids have teeth. 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:16.800 There you go, because they could sell toothpaste. It's true. 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:19.920 Uh So when we talk about influence, um, you found, 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:24.040 um a study from about eight years ago. Yeah, this 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:26.200 is the this is the most recent stuff I could find. 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.400 Some of it seems a little old ish, but this 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:30.920 is as as new as I can find. Man, I'm sorry, 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:33.880 that's right. So the influence basically is what we're talking 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:37.680 about of kids over their family. These um, these little 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:42.680 power wielding monsters, three foot tall, power wielding monsters. Ye 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:49.080 know that apparently of the time they will influence, um, 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:54.920 the breakfast choice, the lunch choice, going out to eat, 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.040 of the time you're gonna go where your kid wants 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.960 to go, And thirty four per cent of kids have 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:05.880 a say every time, which okay, all right, I think 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:10.360 was just casual family meal. What's the difference mean that 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:13.680 in the choice of restaurant, So like I want to 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.600 eat hamburgers or specifically I want to eat, you know, 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:21.040 in an out burger? I think no. I think with 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:24.240 the thirty four percent of kids, every time the family 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.280 DESI to eat, the kid has to say in thirty 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:32.760 percent of families, whereas overall percent of restaurant choices have 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.800 a kid saying it. Okay. That doesn't mean every kid 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:37.960 gets that say every time. It's a bit it's a 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.520 bit confusing, maybe even unnecessary. One could argue, I think 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:44.120 we could just agree that kids have an undue amount 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:49.720 of power software. Seventy percent at a time, they're gonna 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:52.000 influence what kind of software you're buying in the family, 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:56.320 and sixty percent a time what kind of computer. Family outings, 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:01.200 family trips and excursions. That's a pressing staff. I didn't 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:04.720 have any choice of where we went as a child. No, 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:06.840 I was told where we were going on vacation. I 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:09.360 was never asked. I don't remember being asked to either. 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:13.080 I mean, like they my parents mostly planned family trips 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:15.720 that like we would enjoy, but I remember them being like, 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:18.240 do you want to go here? Here? It was like 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.480 this is where we're going? Yeah, and I was. I mean, 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:23.920 it was always camping for us, and a lot of 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:28.960 times in Florida or uh mostly in Florida. Well yeah, 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:30.880 you grew up in Georgia, Florida. Why a lot of 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:35.560 beach camping. But um, yeah, we certainly never got any 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:40.599 say like I want to go to Disney World. You 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:45.400 wish in one hand, yeah, exactly. So you take that 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:49.920 influence that kids have over their parents purchases, and you 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:54.080 combine it with their actual like allowance or lawnmowing money 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:56.480 or whatever, the money that they actually spend from their 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.240 own pockets. And what you have is called kids buying power, 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:04.080 and it is staggering. Right back in two thousand, kids 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:08.120 buying power equaled about five hundred billion dollars a year 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.240 in the United States. It's just got more and more, 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.320 higher and higher. Two thousand and five it had gone 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:19.079 up to seven hundred billion, right jump change. You want 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:21.200 to hit him with the two thousand twelve stat and 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:23.839 this is this is almost five years ago. Now one 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:28.560 point two trillion dollars. That's how much money kids directly 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:32.640 or indirectly spent in the United States. It's amazing, it is. 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:36.760 So there's one more factor too that makes advertisers really 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:42.440 want kids. They will eventually grow into adult consumers. There 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.400 are already kid consumers. They're already influencing their parents buying choices. 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:48.920 But they'll eventually grow up. And like you said, if 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.000 you can hit them young, can get that brand loyalty developed, 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:55.480 then they will grow up and remember that that affiliation 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:59.719 to it, that nostalgia you know, and you will you 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:03.080 will buy that product throughout your lifetime. I think I 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:08.000 used crass toothpaste. I still I still go to Colgate. Yeah, 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:10.800 that's what I was raised on. Uh. So I looked 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:13.400 up something. UM it's called pester power. Have you ever 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.880 heard of that? That is, Um, well, it's exactly what 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.959 it sounds like. It's it's how kids manipulate their parents 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:23.720 into getting them things, and it's by pet bothering them. Uh. 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.080 And they did some uh some the you gov Omnibus 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.920 Parents survey got some stats and UM, fifty seven percent 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:34.960 of parents I think their children are successful persuaders. And 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:38.440 the top tactic from a kid, according to seventy one 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:43.680 percent of parents, is verbal negotiation. Uh said they were. 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.800 They were bartered like I'll do more chores. I'll get 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:50.880 better grades if you get me this stuff, whereas it 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.559 should be like, no, you should get better grades anyway. 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:57.360 You know, not really gonna buy you this garbage. Uh. 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.640 Create wish lists. That was big when we were kids. 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:07.920 I that was one of the funniest things to do. Um. 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:09.839 All those kids always look so happy in there too, 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:12.280 you know, do you I've showed you that like wish 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.959 book web before, where they just go through scan old catalogs. 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.440 Talk about nostalgia. It's John Hodge. Won't even look at that, 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:24.040 and like I would see a slight tear goes down 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.280 his cheek and then drop a blood goes out of 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:28.960 his ear, right, and then that tear turns to acid 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.280 and then burns through the floor. He's like, stop, no, 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:36.080 I won't give him. Uh. Parents say, some kids list 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.680 pros and cons or write letters or power point presentations 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:45.080 of kids. Right, power Point presentations, that's the lobby for 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:47.559 a gift. I'd be like, good for you, buddy, you're 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:50.360 learning some future skills. You're gonna be a salesman, a 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:54.199 road warrior. And apparently of parents said that they buckled 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.440 and bought the item at an average purchase cost of 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:02.439 two hundred and thirty three dollars. Whoa talk about pestor power? 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.040 I would I would make a power point presentation for 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.640 a two dollar item, but first you have to lobby 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:12.920 for the power point software. Right, you can make your 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.640 presentation to get your garbage toy. That reminds me, um, 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:18.480 you me told me when she was a kid she 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:24.320 made this basically this menu of stuff that her parents 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:26.760 would pay her money for. It would be like, didn't 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:29.360 put salt on my food at dinner. You give me 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:33.640 fifteen cents, not penalties. It was stuff that she was 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:36.520 doing and then they would just pay her for it. 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.000 And her parents looked at it. We're like, this is 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:41.959 a really great idea, except, like you said earlier, you're 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:44.920 supposed to be doing this anyway. We'll tell you if 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:46.720 you can put salt on your food. We're not going 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.720 to give you money to not put salt on your food. 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.400 You just can't automatically, no money involved. But yeah, pestor power, 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.400 do you know what my allowance was? Do you remember 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:02.040 what your allowance was? What? Five dollar or a month? Well, 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:06.920 this is back in nineteen seventy six, right, yeah, seven, 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:10.800 Well that's like a hundred thousand dollars today. I should 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:12.360 look that up. I'm curious what that would be in 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:15.079 today's dollars. Five dollars a month bucks a month, That 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.160 does seems small. What did you do with it? I 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:20.400 think I probably saved it if I remember correctly, and 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:22.440 saved up to buy things I was. I mean, I 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:25.640 got my first job when I was thirteen, who because 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:28.640 I was like, I want my money to buy things, well, 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.720 to buy Star Wars and my own stuff. I knew 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:34.520 that you know. I mean my parents were teachers were 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.080 In fact, at the time, my mom wasn't even working. 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:42.040 It was a single parent teacher household. So we we 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.520 were fine, but we didn't They didn't throw money at 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:48.160 a lot of stuff. So those socks are good, just 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:52.920 sew them together and make a new sock and rugal. 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:55.600 And they didn't give me a hundred dollars a week. 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:58.000 And oh yeah, I had friends that got allowances like that, 0:13:58.040 --> 0:13:59.880 and I was just like, that's not Even when I 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.280 was a kid, I remember being like that seems wrong. Yeah, 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:05.840 like why why are you getting that? You're not doing 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:07.839 anything for that money? Like the kids who got the 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:10.280 hundred dollar a week allowances were the ones who did 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:14.120 the least of all. Yes, you know, liked I worked 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.440 around my house. I'll tell you that, I'd sit on 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:18.280 my face all the time. I didn't get a hundred 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:22.120 dollars a week sweeping that chimney. All right, So all 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:24.720 this equals a lot of spending, And then on the 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:26.880 flip side of that, you're gonna have a lot of 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:32.000 spending on advertising. UM In the US, in two thousand nine, 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:39.160 company spent seventeen billion dollars on advertising directly at children 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:43.040 and kids in America. This is horrifying. Kids in the 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:48.080 United States today see forty thousand ads a year. Wow, 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.640 so seventeen billion. That sounds like a lot, and it 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:54.360 is right. But in nine eight three, just in nine 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:58.280 eighty three, they spent a hundred million dollars on ads. 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.240 It jumped up that much since three. And we'll see 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:03.960 why in a little while. That's a hundred and ten 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:07.040 adds a day that kids are seeing. Could that be right? 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:09.120 That's a hundred and ten ads that are out there 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:12.920 on on kids programming. It doesn't necessarily mean they see 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.600 them all. They're just there for them to see. Oh. 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:17.920 So when it says kids see an estimated, that just 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:22.600 means they're out there for So here's something. Here's something 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.280 that I'm I've run across. There are there's a huge 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:30.000 body of research on advertising to kids that will get 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:33.400 into There are also some figures out there where it's 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:35.800 like I've seen this, but then I've also seen that. 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.760 Yeah sure, you know, so, like you said, a hundred 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:42.480 and ten adds a day, Yeah, that's that's there's no 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.640 way that any kid has ever seen a hundred and 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:46.480 ten ads in a day. I don't know, man, think 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:50.520 about it. But we've willboards internet commercials. I guess that's 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.280 entirely possible. I guess that's possible. You might see twenty 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:56.240 five ads on your way home from school, but I 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.520 have seen that forty thousand ads a year thing all 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:02.640 over the place. For sure. I could buy that so 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:05.560 ads in school, which we'll get too. So yeah, so 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:09.000 there's there's this whole idea that yeah, oh man, that's 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:10.960 that's a lot of ads, or that's a lot of 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.440 money being spent to advertise to children. Maybe we should 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:16.560 tone it down, or maybe we should think about how 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:20.240 we're doing this a little differently. No, say some people. 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:24.800 There's a particularly a group called Commercial Free Childhood Campaign 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:28.560 for a commercial Free Childhood, and they say kids should 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:32.320 not see ads at all. Yea, even the say the 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:34.360 good ones that say eat this healthy thing or a 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:37.280 brush your teeth, don't Because what they're saying is is 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:42.760 if you teach kids to identify with products through the 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:46.320 kind of advertising, which is basically celebrity endorsement, whether that 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:51.560 celebrity is Don Mattingly or um Tony the Tiger, like 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.840 a made up celebrity, it's still a cult of personality 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:58.200 that the kids buying into not Oh, these carets actually 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:01.120 are good to me, are good form me. It's don 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.800 maddeningly says that I can be a world class home 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.040 run hitter if I eat these carrots. You know what 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:10.359 I'm saying. So the focus is still on mindless consumerism, 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.800 even if they are being leaned towards like good commercial 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:19.080 or yeah, good good product or whatever, good habits or whatever. Yeah, 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.879 this one selection that you pulled here was really telling. 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:25.159 It says, um, advertising in and of itself is harmful 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:30.080 to children. Marketing targets emotions, not intellect, trains children to 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.080 choose products not for the actual value, but because of 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.200 what's on the package of the celebrity, undermines critical thinking, 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:40.000 promotes impulse buying. Yeah, that's like it says it. All 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:44.200 that was Susan Lynn of the UH campaign for Commercial 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.200 Free Childhood makes a lot of sense. Don't regulate it, 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:49.199 get rid of it, exactly. And there's been a lot 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.480 of pushes over the years to do just that in 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:55.000 the United States. Other countries have done it. Um And 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:58.760 as people have kind of battled over this this, a 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.080 lot of study has been and done on what impact 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.920 advertising has on kids brains, and we'll dive into that 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:29.959 right after these messages, all right, before we broke Uh well, 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:32.240 earlier we were talking about I was saying I couldn't 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:35.360 when I was a kid. I remember the Crest Cavity Fighters, 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:39.240 and I just thought it was another cartoon. Um, that's 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:41.680 not because I was a dumb kid. It's because if 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:45.920 you are. They've determined, this is through scientific study and inquiry, 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.280 that if you are under four years old, you literally 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:52.640 cannot tell the difference between a commercial and the program 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:54.800 you're watching. No, like, not at all, even if they 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:59.960 use commercial break techniques like we'll be right back after 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.440 these messages or whatever, right which they have to use. 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:06.280 You notice you don't see that between you know, commercials 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:10.160 for Seinfeld. You know, No, it's true, we'll be back 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.840 right after this. Can you believe? But you have to 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:16.199 have that stuff in kids programming, even though if you're 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:18.719 under the age of four does no good. No Like, 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:23.400 the kid literally cannot discern between the program they're watching 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:26.400 and the ads. That That's nuts to me. I didn't 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.000 realize that until I started researching that. Did you know that? 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:31.920 Uh well, we talked about it in a couple of 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.080 weeks ago, but yeah we did yeah, okay, um between 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:37.280 four and five. As you start to get a little 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:41.280 bit older, you might be able to tell a difference categorically, 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:45.080 but you're still it's it's more along the lines of, 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:49.800 well that's shorter, that that cartoon was really short, or 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:53.879 it was funnier yeah, or look different or whatever. So 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:55.480 you can tell the difference, but you still don't know 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:58.600 you're being you know, shoveled and add on your tiny 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.679 little throat. Ye. And there's two there's two things that 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:05.000 children lack that you need to be able to understand 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.399 and add at its basis right, and one is you 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:11.040 have to number one, be able to differentiate it from 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.400 the program. So you have to be able to say, oh, 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:17.600 it's an AD. When they said after these messages will 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:19.560 be right back, it means that the show went away, 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:22.760 and now what i'm seeing is an AD. That's step one. 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:26.119 Step two is that you have to be able to 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:31.280 understand that in any kind of ad you're being advertised to, 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:34.560 you're you're being persuaded, and that the message that's coming 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:36.840 at you is biased and therefore you should take it 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:40.320 with a grain of salt. That comes even later than 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:44.960 understanding the difference between an AD and the program. Right 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:49.359 the the idea that you're you're being advertised to doesn't 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:52.240 come until at least seven. From what I've seen, you 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:55.120 don't even know what grain of salt means. You don't 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:57.600 know what that expression means. You have no idea because 0:20:57.600 --> 0:20:59.080 you can't even say, as a parent, I would take 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:00.959 it with a grain of salt. At an AD, they'll go, 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:06.359 what are these words? What I like salt? Uh? There's 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:11.280 a Center for New American Dream and um, this is frightening. 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:14.600 They said. Babies he's young as six months old, conform 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:19.919 mental images of corporate logos and mascot's. I didn't find 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.879 what that's how they figured that out? Was it like 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:30.000 your baby draw draw dome? Manningly, what has he ever endorsed? Promoter? 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:34.880 Right now? Is he? I don't know what years is? Okay? Uh? 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:37.280 And brand loyalties can be established by the age of 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:41.600 two and um, yeah, that one that's crazy to me. 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.080 And apparently in the British study at least they found it. 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:47.840 You have to be close to a teenager up to 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:53.399 about twelve is when you can finally really discern an 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:57.120 AD from content and its intent on an adult level. Yeah, 0:21:57.240 --> 0:22:00.840 it's about where. And what's interesting thing is the the 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:04.520 group that that conducted that study and concluded that was 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:08.840 an advertising lobbying group. So even they are like, yes, 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:14.760 kids under the age of twelve are mentally incapable of 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:18.920 discerning the intent and content of ads. All they get 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:22.840 is the the overall message of the ad, which is 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:26.280 you want this, Go tell your parents that you want this, 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:30.760 Go make your parents pastor power exactly use a power point. Yeah. 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:34.560 And the American Psychology Association they had this task force 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:38.080 in two thousand four and they basically looked at all 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:41.760 the available literature over the last like, you know, several decades. 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:43.600 I think it was the sixties where they really started 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:48.359 looking into it. Um and the a p A basically concluded, yes, 0:22:48.960 --> 0:22:55.000 kids are kids can't understand advertising. It's unfair to advertised 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:57.679 to kids. This is the position of the a p A. Like, 0:22:57.720 --> 0:22:59.880 if it were up to us, it would be banned. Yes, 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:03.240 they suggested that it should be banned. Kids under the 0:23:03.280 --> 0:23:05.119 age of at least seven. I think the a p 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:09.520 A said should not see ads directed towards them, But 0:23:09.600 --> 0:23:12.880 like I say, not up to them. They can only 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:19.199 recommend and be laughed at corporations with hippies pocket on 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:23.200 a commune hippie. Uh. So when it comes to nutrition, 0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:26.760 this is a really big deal. Um. There are a 0:23:26.760 --> 0:23:31.800 lot of advertisements for candy and junk food and fast 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:36.560 food that are rammed down your kid's throat from a 0:23:36.680 --> 0:23:41.960 very early age, and there's been You can't provide a 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:46.680 direct uh causation. Of course, everybody's like, give it to me, 0:23:46.880 --> 0:23:51.640 but there's a lot of correlation that watching these commercials 0:23:51.720 --> 0:23:55.040 and seeing these ads, uh, correlates to your kid eating 0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:58.280 more of the stuff and maybe gaining weight and maybe 0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:02.720 affecting overall childhood obesity. Yeah. And again, remember the advertising 0:24:03.000 --> 0:24:05.960 on or the money spent on advertising to children in 0:24:06.800 --> 0:24:09.479