Friday, October 22, 2010

Product vs. Images

Products hardly ever look like in real life as they do in the pictures. The way that an adult views products is different than how children view them. Fast food is to look like it is a good way to get your children fed while on the run when the truth is that it is better to cook at home. The fast food ads are also misleading to children. How? The toys work on TV and hardly in "real life."  Judith Van Evra in her book titled Television and Child Development talks about everything that you need to know on how children view advertisements. One of the chapters that I'm going to use is "Celebrity Endorsement." Evra states " The combination of a famous presenter with perceptually exciting and dramatic material from the 'real' world would be a powerful message for children who are prone to believe adults, aspire to emulated heroes and are literal-minded in their interpenetration of sensory information." What I got out of what Evra is saying is younger children are easy to persuade to buy the product more so than an adult. Also if the adult is looked up to then the child is going to listen to what that person has to say.  The general ads for children to see are: Clothing, Toys, Toothpaste/brush, electronics, and musicall of which any child cannot live without, or so they think. Other advertising companies like to beef up what they are trying to sell, so it will sell. Take a place like McDonald's, the kids in the commercial are generally laughing having a good time, the toys always work, and eat healthy. The 'real' life situation is more like: mom goes through the drive through, the toy does not work, and the kids want burger and fries which leaves them tired and cranky. I see a little difference between them. According to Evra "There are children's magazines, promotional toys, cartoons characters, logos on clothes, and promotional giveaways such as McDonald's Happy Meals." When you think of advertising it is generally linked to a TV screen, and that is not always the case. Sometimes it is the clothing on the racks at the store or a billboard that you see going down the road. Next time that you want something that you see on TV do some research to see if it is worth buying the product; most of the time it does not work like the commercial said that it would. There has to be a reason why children are so involved with electronics more now than ever and I will cover that in my next post.

Evra, Judith Van. Television and Child Development. 3rd ed. 2004. London:
     Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004. Print.

2 comments:

  1. I agree when it comes to McDonalds food. They make it look so good and they say that it is healthy, on some things, and it is just the opposite once you get the product. I'm sure that there are other fast food place that do the same. I don't eat out as much as some people becasue of the unhealthy food and i like to cook. thanks for making a blog that lets the everyday viewer like me see what is going on behind the math. thanks.

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  2. I don't like fast food places. they always make my stomich hurt after i get done eatting at them. the same way with buffets.

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