Week 5 advertising

Advertising is defined by Petley (2003) as the means by which goods or services are promoted to the public, with the aim to draw people’s attention to the product, displaying it in a favourable light. Children are exposed to adverts on a daily basis, as they appear not only on television, but in newspapers, magazines, billboards and even audio adverts on the radio. Gunter et al (2005) questions whether it is fair to advertise to children if they do not fully understand the intent of the advertisers. This is further supported by  Burrell and Beard (2010) who states that children do not always understand the persuasive language used in adverts and even though they have their own opinions of products they are not able to fully understand the deceit that can often lie within advertisements.

Throughout this intense amount of advertising children are exposed to it can be suggested that children may be seen as consumers. Most adverts aimed at children are associated with the latest trends or crazes,  which leads to ‘pester-power’ towards parents who are presented with an added pressure to buy what their children want especially as children are now aware of more products that parents are willing or able to buy (Gunter et al, 2005). Pester-power is described by Pilgrim and Lawrence (2001) not as a source of conflict but a basis for parent-child negotiation (Gunter et al, 2005). However Proctor and Richards (2002) mention that we cannot solely blame advertisements for pester-power as many products can sell themselves due to being part of a craze and through the increase of popular programs designed for young new opportunities for selling toys and associated material are created (Hind, 2003 cited in Gunter et al, 2005).

Furnham (Cited in Gunter et al, 2005) supports the view of educating children about advertising, stating ‘banning advertising of any sort shelters, or at least delays, a child’s understanding and decision making’. A way in which children’s understandings of advertising can be increased in school is through structured activities where children can learn about the nature of marketing, however Craggs (1992) states that the pressure of the National Curriculum means that time allowed to spend on advertising may be limited (Gunter et al,2005)

The new National curriculum states that children should be able to write for a range of purposes and audiences (DfE, 2013) therefore supporting the idea that advertising should be taught in school. Gunter et al (2005) state that teachers need to harness advertising and embrace different ways in which it can be addressed and taught giving a context for learning. This therefore highlights the significance of educating children about the power of advertising in the primary classroom and at home, so that children can become critical viewers of advertising.

Burrell, A. and Beard, R. (2010) Children’s advertisement writing ‘Literacy’ (44) pp.83-90

Gunter, B., Oates, C & Blades, M. (1995) The issues about television advertising to Children. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

DfE (2013) The Primary National Curriculum. London: Crown Copyright

Petley, J. (2003) Advertising. London: Hodder Wayland