Disney's Advertising On Young Children

1128 Words5 Pages
Corporations struck gold when children became their prime consumers in 1980. Since then the world’s largest corporations have made millions solely focusing their marketing on kids. Children’s advertising began with fast food chains promoting their brands through television, Internet, play structures, toys, and other merchandise. It was not long before companies were advertising their products to children in the classroom as well. The marketing strategy of targeting children originated with Walt Disney. In the article, How Disney Magic and the Corporate Media Shape Youth Identity in the Digital Age, Henry Giroux states “Disney in the new millennium has been at the forefront of the multimedia conglomerates now aggressively marketing products…show more content…
According to Henry Giroux, “children see about "40,000 ads a year on TV alone, by the time they enter the fourth grade, they will have "memorized 300-400 brands." These significantly large numbers attest to the abundance of advertisement exposed to children through television. Giroux uses the analogy of children being slaves to make his point of their dependence upon forms of media when he writes,” under the tutelage of Disney and other mega corporations, children have become an audience captive to media.” Advertisement was first communicated to children during commercials; this grew to network channels that are specifically designed for kids. “Disney channel the cartoon network, and other children’s cable networks are now responsible for about 80 percent of all television viewing by kids” (Schlosser 46). These channels are what keep children glued to the screen. According to Schlosser “the typical American child spends twenty- one hours a week watching television”. This doesn’t leave much room for children to engage in any other type of activity. Surely a child who watches twenty-one hours of television a week must diminish their growth in their education. School no longer becomes a priority to a child but rather is seen as a chore that is keeping them from enjoying their favorite…show more content…
YouTube is a common source for educational videos. Of course before watching the instructive video there is a mandatory viewing ad. Because of this companies have been able to, “eliminate the barrier between ads and education” (Klein 88). In some cases corporations are even able to advertise their brand through cafeteria lunch menus. In the book “No Logo” the author Naomi Klein speaks of a time when Fox was able to promote their film “Anastasia” by naming the cafeteria food after characters in the movie. It is clear that school is no longer outside of the reach of corporations who are removing academic material from the classroom and replacing it with their brand. Naomi Klein also mentions that Fox provided an “Anastasia study guide” to the teachers who desire exciting lesson plans for their students. The core curriculums math, english, and science are no longer the basis of the material being taught in the classroom. An “Anastasia study guide” for example is a lesson plan that takes away from a child’s education and learning time at school. This tactic of marketing can be fatal for academics nation
Show More
Related

  • Disney Channel's Negative Effects On Young Children

    1463 Words  | 6 Pages

    Today children are a huge market force and target audience for marketing and advertisements. The messages and products targeting children have an enormous impact on their physical and cognitive development. According to the BLS American Time Use Survey, the average child watches around 16,000 television advertisements per year in the US. Furthermore, advertisements target emotions and train children to choose products not for the actual value of the product, but for the celebrity that’s on the

    Read More

  • Environment Analysis: Environmental Analysis Of The Disney World

    2072 Words  | 9 Pages

    sequels to the original Star Wars trilogy, and readied the opening of the new Shanghai Disney Resort. Furthermore, the media conglomerate continues to perform at a high level, despite facing constant pressure in its film and broadcasting holdings. Disney’s ability to create, market, and profit from its intellectual property is supported by a century of widely-embraced characters and internationally popular franchises. Recent success through its acquired brands (Marvel, Lucasfilm) will likely

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Supersizing America

    1373 Words  | 6 Pages

    fast food. Obesity and declining health in children and adults today, is a huge problem that American’s face day in and day out with fast food playing the leading roll. Consuming fast food is killing us all slowly with fattening and low quality foods that contain; only god knows what, in them. The fast food industry, and to be specific, companies like McDonalds, are a bunch of corporate money hungry individuals who deceive us all (especially our children) for their own good at our expense, while

    Read More

More about Disney's Advertising On Young Children

Open Document