Artifact

My artifact this week is actually an event that occurred today rather than a visual I saw. As I mentioned in my previous post, marketing that is directed at children can be construed as being unethical. However, since it is such a strong marketing ploy, companies continue to market their products toward children. One reason for this is that it helps the company build a loyal consumer base from an early age. A second reason for this is that children have surprising pull when it comes to the products their parents purchase--many times, as I have seen as an employee of Fannie May, gifts and toys are bought for children just to quiet them when they are being unruly. This, too, is problematic, but that is besides the point.

At a work meeting today, my manager told us that we would be giving out free pieces of candy for Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween night. She actually said to us, "Hopefully this will really get us some more business, because kids will tell their moms, 'oooh, that was yummy, let's go there again!'" She didn't even realize the implications of what she had said, because it is so widely accepted in our culture to market to children.

On a similar note, it is somewhat shocking the amount of parents that come into the store with very young children who point to what candy they want, knowing exactly what it is they like and want, and having no problem whatsoever receiving it. I also have a regular customer who comes in any time she's at the mall to buy a milk chocolate lollipop, and every time I see her, she tells me the story of how her mother always would buy her one when they were at the mall when she was a kid, so now she has to come in any time she sees the store because it's "just like old times." Again, this is a case of a lasting and loyal consumer relationship with the brand.

I still believe that marketing to children is unethical, but I can understand how it works and why companies continue to do it. Marketing isn't all done by the companies themselves--sometimes, children market to other children. This fits in with marketing of "belonging." For example, when I was young, all my friends had barbie dolls. I didn't really like playing with dolls, but I asked for them as a Christmas gift because that was a socially acceptable toy to play with. If I owned and played with them, I "belonged" to the group of socially normal young girls. From a young age, we are spoon fed expectations and norms, and it is my opinion that we reinforce them until we are old enough to know better--and even still, some of us continue to reinforce those norms because we are comfortable fitting in and belonging.