OK here's the warning. This is going to be a rant.
We don't normally watch children's television apart from the odd programme on CBeebies because our children watch so much television with their mother we try to make sure they do other things when they're with us. However, today our 6 year old daughter is poorly and as she's laid on the sofa we put the television on for her. She asked for a particular commercial channel.
I didn't realise that commercial children's television channels run so many adverts all aimed at children. There is everything from toys and food to Lelly Kelly shoes and Sketcher Sparklers. Each time a toy is shown our 4 year old son asks if he can have it and the Lelly Kelly and Sparklers are incredibly attractive to our daughter.
I thought that there were rules around advertising. Firstly I didn't think it could be aimed directly at children. Secondly I thought that advertisers were no longer able to make toys look better than they actually are by use of scenary and clever photography etc. They use all the toys in the range to sell one item but only put this in very small print on the screen. For example a Barbie wardrobe with changes of clothes was advertised using half a dozen different Barbie dolls. Of course each doll would have to be bought seperately. This isn't made clear in the advertisement so the children think it's all part of the same toy.
This cynical selling to little minds who can't see that they're being enticed to want things is despicable.
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