The Influence of Advertsing in Childhood

In class we have been discussing the role of advertising in children’s lives throughout history. We were left with several questions regarding advertising in children’s lives to ponder at the end of class. The first question was how do we see advertising influencing the lives of children today. I think advertising is a huge part of children’s lives. Children are constantly bombarded with advertising wherever they go. They can’t turn on the tv, walk down the street, or walk in a store without seeing a series of advertisements. Children won’t buy things that they haven’t seen advertisements for, or see movies that they haven’t seen previews for. It affects almost every decision that they make. If they constantly see something being advertised the idea that they have to have it will be more and more ingrained in their minds. Advertising also creates the “cool factor” that kids search for. If something isn’t considered cool kids won’t purchase it and advertisers can decide what’s cool and what’s not. The video that we watched in class called “Merchants of Cool,” we learned that there are even people hired to go out and find the next trend. I also think that over the years advertising has kept on growing and changing. When we were discussing the article “Children and Advertising” in class we discussed that advertising helps to create childhood. I think that this statement is true. It creates a part of childhood that the media wants to promote, “the cool factor,” and makes it desirable for children.  I think that today children are extremely influenced by advertising.

We were also asked to reflect on how advertising affected our own childhood and what lingering influences from advertising remain in your life today. It’s difficult to recall just how much advertising affected my childhood because at the time I wasn’t considering this question. This also demonstrates just how hard it is to study the history of childhood when children don’t often record their voice. I do remember constantly seeing advertising everywhere I went, and it did influence my thinking. I was also, like the vast majority of kids, majorly influenced by the changing trends and the “cool factor” that advertising created. It especially affected the clothes that I would buy; and I remember that the trends would change as quickly as I could start wearing them. This impact of advertising is still present in my life as a young adult, although now I am much less concerned with what is cool. I am more likely to buy something that I like by my standards. But advertising doesn’t disappear in adulthood, I still see it everywhere, and it’s still an ever-present influence in the lives of most adults.