Material quest?
Advertising to children has become big business in recent years. All around the world, children spend a lot of time watching television. Such prolonged hours of TV expose them to various advertisements, convincing them to buy. As kids are becoming more powerful consumers, marketers are targeting them more bluntly. Advertisers are letting their imagination run wild using catchy jingles, dances and cartoons, portraying mysterious worlds, implying false reality. Young children have difficulty distinguishing between advertisements and reality, and may not understand that ads are there with pure intention to sell something for profit. Additionally, many parents feel guilty about buying products for their child but they worry that by constantly saying “no” they will increase their child's depression. Parents, meanwhile, in their earnestness to give the best to their children may go a bit overboard with their generosity and give in to their endless demands.
A growing, even insatiable desire for material goods is always dominating the minds of children. Nowadays, marketers see children as an economic resource only to be exploited for greater profit. Studies on “materialism” show that individuals highly focused on materialistic values also report less satisfaction with life. Advertisements have immense control over the minds of young children and are shaping our future as a materialistic society.
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