I think the two positions here are closer than we might think. While kids can (and do) certainly repeat their requests ad nauseum, it is the parents who ultimately make the purchasing decision. So, the parents are being marketed to via their kids. But, when parents buy Baby Einstein videos for their infants (who can't yet speak) the kids are not the ones being targeted; the parents are.

When hubby and I got our first dog, we thought, "PetSmart, PetCo, etc... are huge money-makers. People will spend tons of money on their pets!" Then, when we had our first child, we said, "BabiesRUs, Baby Depot, etc... are huge money-makers. People will spend tons of money on their kids!"

Where am I going with this?? I guess it's just pretty clear that companies are in business to make money. And, they'll market to anyone - parent, kid, teenager, dog owner, etc. - in order to make a profit. Kids and parents are targeted by marketing experts, and as long as there are companies, they always will be.

The only way to protect kids from being bombarded by advertising is to keep them secluded. They'll be facing advertising all their life by their peers, sports idols, parents, etc. It's the job of parents to educate their kids about advertising, not protect them from it. There's simply no escaping it.

So, yes, kids are being marketed to. And yes, parents are being marketed to.

-steps off soapbox

Ooooo, no. It tells him to "Drink more Ovaltine." (See the last line in my last post. ;) )

This actually isn't all that true - not to mention that the stereotyping you've presented is somewhat irresponsible. I won't get too deep into the stats right now (I can if you want), but the data do not support your 'spoiled kids' theory (other than a brief dip in 99-03, teen employment has risen pretty steadily, it's actually that savings have dropped).

Also, while the enabling mechanism might be similar for adolescents and pre-adolescent children, I think we can safely argue them separately - I don't think, for instance, that work-eligible children are the primary focus for sites advocating against ads targeting children.

Reading this thread is fabulous birth control.

Just click your heels together three times and say, "There's no place like singlehood."

/Love my dog, but if I had to do it over, I'd never start with a puppy. I can't imagine trying to raise a kid.

LOL. I'm not single, but I'm not having kids. Or puppies. Kittens are fine.

I refer to this as "The Mouse Trap Corollary."

http://www.dennisyang.com/images/mousetrap.jpg

Stupid !#$@ing Mouse Trap never @$^$#^%%$#ing worked. I didn't even pay for it myself, and I'm STILL pissed about this.

Although sometimes I wonder if we ever really do learn (see: $40 lipstick and superexpensive golf clubs).

Please note my comment that I was painting them with a rather broad brush. I admit that. The thing is, advertisers do too. I can't even count the number of times I see articles talking about teens being the target market because they have the money, etc.

And I was by no means saying that every teen was like the example I gave. I most certainly wasn't, and most of my high school wasn't. It's an extreme.

Wow, I wish I had parents that went for that. My mom only said no once b4 the situation got serious.

LOL - I got that damn game for Christmas one year, and it sure the hell never worked right either. I think things went wrong w/the little man who's supposed to flip over into the cup. He didn't make it. :(

I could get away with asking over and over to a point, and I knew exactly when that point was.
(With my Mom, the line was |_|here...with my dad it was more like |_______________________|here.)

LOL - Dad's are fun!

To this DAY I can still piss my mom off, because if she asks my dad to do something like mow the yard, and I ask him to do something at my house, like fix our phones...later that day our phone is fixed and five days later their lawn is still not mowed.

You should be sent to "time out" for saying "piss." I read about that somewhere.

LOL.

Although my mom never cared if I said "pissed"...she HATED the word "sucks" though...she'd rather I say "That's Sh*tty" then "That Sucks".

I can understand that given the original conotation -- in other words, what you were saying when you said someone "sucks."

Common usage now, though.

Yes, but 14 years ago when I got grounded for saying it, it wasn't quite common usage yet.

Yeah, I understand. Those parents can be so old fashioned!