Reviewed by George Ivanoff

There's nothing new about the notion of children as consumers. They get pocket money and they earn money in after-school jobs, so naturally, advertisers chase their dollars. But there's more to it than that, according to the Media Education Foundation's documentary, Consuming Kids. This well-presented doco sheds some light on just how insidious marketing to children can become. It's quite eye-opening. And as a parent, it's a little frightening.

Consuming Kids examines how marketing to children in the US has exploded after it was deregulated in the 1980s. Since then, it has become more intense, it has increased, and it has started to employ child psychology in pursuit of children. Two major motivating forces exist in the push to market to children: firstly, the notion that children influence their parents' spending choices. In this bracket we have everything from advertisements for adult consumer items such as cars, which are designed to appeal to children, and advertisements that encourage children to nag their parents for certain products such as sugary breakfast cereals, to advertising that shows children throwing tantrums until parents finally relent and purchase the item that their screaming offspring demand.

The second motivating force is the notion of brand loyalty and the creation of life-long consumers. Children are bombarded with logos and brands from an early age on television, on their clothing, on their drink-bottles and other paraphernalia, and even in their schools. All this so that a brand can get a consumer "from the cradle to the grave".

The documentary also covers other aspects of kiddie-marketing, including the pushing of violence, unhealthy food, and all manner of inappropriate material. It's frightening stuff! The lack of morality and conscience in the marketing industry is hardly surprising… but the lengths to which they are going in pursuit of children, is astounding. Consuming Kids is a very US-focussed documentary. Thankfully, Australia isn't this bad… yet! The truly frightening thing is that we may well be one day.

The DVD comes with some interesting extras that are also well worth watching. There are three short docos, also from the Media Education Foundation. The most interesting is What Parents can Do, which follows on from Consuming Kids and addresses the fears of parents, providing them with practical suggestions.

Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood

(2008)

Available through: Media Education Foundation.