So I came across this article about how angry parents were when there were half naked girls displayed on a huge poster outside of a baseball stadium on "kids day". Even though I am not a parent, I would have taken notice and would have been bothered, because I am a person who is usually surrounded by kids as babysit all day everyday. To be an outsider (babysitter) presented into a situation of an explanation in an instance like that makes for an uncomfortable conversation, and potentially dangerous because every parent is different from the next and I can honestly say I don't always know what each parent thinks as "too much information" or "inappropriate".
This makes me think of advertisements that during television commercials that are risky especially since children could be watching. The commercial that comes to mind when I think about this is the commercial for His and Hers KY Jelly. It's funny to an adult, but to a kid it could only cause questions, and how do you explain to an 8 year old about His and Hers KY Jelly and why they are in bed with explosions? I just think that people who are in charge of placing advertisements like that one need to think more about where they are placing it because just because you seem nothing wrong with it or youre past that phase in your life- doesn't mean everyone else is.
You almost want to hope that children that age aren't watching those TV programs that the KY Jelly advertisement would be shown, however that's not always the case. Parental controls on television as well as interpersonally have disipated along the years, and children could be exposed to anything these days. I feel as if marketers and designers alike have been increasingly less concerned with the level of appropriateness their advertisements convey, especially in the presence of kids.
ReplyDeleteI agree Erin. I think I agree because of the fact that my two little cousins (5 & 7) watch EVERYTHING. They both have their own T.V's in their rooms and they stay up watching television even when my aunt and uncle turn it off. My point is, there is no telling what channel they are going to put on and what commercial and advertisement they are going to stumble upon and you're right, it may raise questions that 5 and 7 years old's shouldn't be asking or even wondering about. You could say it is bad parenting but these children these days have minds of their own and restrictions can only go so far.
ReplyDeleteI like these commercials but I also agree with the girls above. These commercials that obviously have to do with sex are on at times that children are awake. If they ask questions you are going to be in sticky situation but then again you can just make something up.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what kids these day know a whole LOT more then when we were younger! they know a whole lot more about sex, and drugs than anyone of us would think and I do believe it's because of what they watch on TV. And whether it's in front of their parents or behind their parents back, come on, you know we all used to watch shows we weren't suppose to watch when we were little lol
The first thing that crosses my mind is where are the parents if kids are watching these type of commercials? And what stations are they watching? I don't think that these type of commercials are going to be on "kid-friendly" shows. I think it is more up to the parents to monitor what there kid is watching more than the advertisers. But I do agree with the above comments when it was said that we even watched shows we were supposed to when we were little.
ReplyDeleteI agree Erin. Ads these days are becoming a little too inappropriate for children. Its like there is no ratings anymore anywhere. Children are always curious and ask questions so i wouldnt doubt it if they would ask thier parents about commercials for KY jelly or condoms. Today's society is becoming more sexually open and selling sex everywhere. No wonder these kids are smoking ciggarettes, drinking, and dressing slutty at such young ages, because they dont know rigt from wrong and according to TV being resque is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Society is certainly different and changing as far as what is tolerated and accepted. With parents always working it is difficult to monitor what they watch and what they are exposed to. As most people know tobacco ads. in magazines are not allowed but somehow a new tobacco product called SNUS has managed to get away with it. Perhaps there should be stricter rules considering what kids can be exposed to.
ReplyDeleteI agree some of these advertisements are a little questionable. It is hard to control though for advertisers because kids can be up at any hour. And some of those commercials are reaching the target audience but children just happen to see them as well. I see both sides of this and I think it will continue to be a ongoing issue...
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think that kids these days are overexposed to ads that are not suitable for them. This is probably why kids are acting 5 or 6 years older than they really are. They are getting desensitized to everything and by bombarding them with ads about sex that they may or may not have no idea about will spark their interest. Advertisers should be careful when they made ads that include half naked women or men on them because kids see it and I think they have not thought it all they way through.
ReplyDeleteSince KY Jelly is for older people you have to target the advertisements towards them. If a child is confused by the commercial and asks a parent what it means they can just tell them that they don't need to know because it isn't appropriate. I believe that some things are too racey for regular t.v. and in advertisements however advertisers needs to appeal to their audience and not be worried if kids will be seeing them or not.
ReplyDeleteAdvertising gets riskier and riskier as the years go on. We wouldn't see these types of ads maybe 20 or 30 years ago, because people were so afraid of the backlash, but now, I feel like it's a competition: Who can be dirtier, me or you? (Not me or you, but you get it) People like to be risque because they want consumers to remember them for that. I think they definitely should not be playing these type of commercials during the day, they should play them at 11 pm, at least. Hopefully kids will be sleeping. (Not the ones that live below me in my apartment- but that's another story)
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is a clear solution to this problem. The number one goal is to sell products and make money. The people who place these ads arent going to think about young children asking their parents to explain what is going on in the ad or commerical. The bigger picture to them in this case is to sell this adult product. The backlash isn't their concern.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting blog. Now that you mention the KY commercial, I realize that it may be a bit much. I get so weird when my mother and I are around the TV and it comes on, especially when the woman moans and screams so hard. I believe that commercial spots shouldn't be as vulgar as this. Although these commercials only air on networks targeted towards older people, kids still have a way of seeing them. This made me think of the show Nip/Tuck that I watched for the first time about a week ago and I could not believe the sex scenes that they air during day time TV!
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