Children in advertising
Select a product that uses a child or a youth in its advertisements or brand marketing. This could be a one time ad (tv, magazine, etc) or the product's logo. Describe the ad or brand, describe the child or youth, and then analyze how and why that product is using a child/youth to market itself.
posted by cmartin @ 4:46 PM
27 Comments:
I wanted to address two things that came to my mind instantly when I read this blog post. I thought of the Coppertone Baby Sunscreen and Nickelodeon Magazine commercials and advertisements. I felt that the best way to answer this question was to think about the things that were specifically directed at children. The Coppertone company uses a little girl and her dog right on the bottle running down the beach. This message sends out what I will call a “fun flag,” to children that if you use this sunscreen then you can have lots of fun with your dog at the beach, and what child wouldn’t want that? Also, I thought of the commercials I had seen for what used to be, I don’t know if it’s still around, the coolest magazine for kids around. The whole commercial consists of children from both genders and all ethnicities repeating the phrase, in new and imaginative ways, “NICKLEDODEON MAGAZINE PLEASE!” The fact that these are the things that came to my mind when I read the blog means that these are defiantly substantial marketing techniques. The magazine is filled with attractive colors that also trigger a "fun flag," thus children want to obtain it.
When I think of children selling products, I’m reminded of the hundreds of embedded advertising that is done at our fast food chains. The sale of a happy meal is marketed with a toy – usually a new movie. On television kids see the fun families have with…a Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle when they go to McDonalds, and accept no other place for lunch. However, on a subtler level of image promotion, everything from bands to clothing labels have “street-teams,” where teens join the company’s club and are given free promotional shirts and stickers. This penetrates the teen cool of brands and logos. They use these teams to have kids do their dirty work; in their cooler-than-thou promotion they’re able to make X-brand seem cooler than if it had simply had a commercial.
Response
I agree Amanda, especially with the Nickelodeon Magazine advertisement. Do you remember the kids pranking their parents? They put Nickelodeon Please signs that would pop out of drawers and even on the family dog. I imagine that this shows parents that their kids could have fun reading. A subscription is a guaranteed good, educational time.
Publix is infamous for its “where shopping is a pleasure” slogan. The company truly enhanced its market with the “Someone Special” TV commercial. In the commercial a mother helps her young son make a cake for his secret valentine. They enjoy themselves while working together and although the mother subtly nags for info, the son keeps quiet about who the cake is particularly for. She goes to drop her son off at school and he leaves the cake in the car with her, making it clear that it was her all along he was making the cake for. Mothers are frequently Publix shoppers and are often forced to bring their children along for the trip which can make the process even more stressful. This ad expands the shopping experience beyond just buying the food, and brings it into the home and family life. The ad also stands out because a boy was selected as the child and he performs a typically feminine task with his mother. This emphasizes the importance of the activity of bonding and the “aww” quality while still promoting the product – food. The ad closes with the notorious “where shopping is a pleasure,” conveying that grocery shopping isn’t exactly the most exhilarating experience but can bring simple pleasures such as baking with your son.
In response to Kadler,
I liked what you said about the Publix commercial becasue I never stopped to think that gearing commercials and advertizing toward children could be a positive thing. I guess its refreshing to realize that there is still good in the world and that it shows up in the least likely of places. The fact that Publix chose to stay innocent and go back to basics to the heart of children in all of their innocence and purity. It makes me want to go and bake something from Publix for my mom so I guess the commercial met its goal.
Every commercial starts out the same, with a bunch of little kids singing: “Oh, I wish!” You know right then, you are listening to an Oscar Meyer commercial. Oscar Meyer uses tons of little kids to create new commercials for their products. These kids sing the Oscar Meyer Weiner song to say how much they love their bologna because it is made by Oscar Meyer. The children in the commercials are usually from infantile ages to about eight or nine years old. The infants in the commercials are usually being held by a parent who enjoys Oscar Meyer and they will sing the song. Oscar Meyer is very clever in using these children for their product because of one: it’s a fun and quick little jingle that you (a child) can remember and will be able to tell your mom about it and two: it shows parents that kids enjoy this tasty food and will gladly eat it. As a child who NEVER liked bologna- the commercial still made me want to go out and buy the product…because Oscar Meyer has a way with Bologna!
In response to Laurenb… I don’t think I have seen an Oscar Meyer commercial in several years, and like laurenb, I never ate bologna. However, at the age of 18 I could easily perform that quirky little jingle that is forever imprinted in my mind. The catchy tune is very difficult to forget and even easier to remember. It serves as great recognition of the product so when deciding among the several types of bologna, the brand Oscar Meyer is what kids recall and ask for. Lets be honest, a kid would much rather have something other than a nutritious sandwich for lunch, but the ads emphasize several excited young kids enjoying the product. This strategy makes a parent believe that their kid would display the same enthusiasm the actors convey. Therefore, I completely agree with laurenb’s praise of the advertisements ability to be a double threat by reaching out to both the kid and the adult.
One advertisement that has been popular for some time is the Welch's juice commercials featuring various children around 4-6 years old. You've probably seen the most popular one with the little angelic, blonde-haired girl who explains how the grape juice tastes good and is good for you. In recent years, other children have taken her place (presumably because she has outgrown the role); I even saw one version of the commercial which featured a little boy.
I would say that these ads are not necessarily directed at children. The entire spot is littered with phrases containing "Mom says..." followed by a fact about how the drink is healthy. Obviously, there are several reasons for using children in this spot. First, they are the primary consumers of the product. While the children may not be the ones begging for the product at the store, many parents are going to buy this product for their children. Second, having such a cute, wholesome kid on the commercial gives the impression that these are the sort of children who drink the product. It kind of plays off the notion that "if you use this product you'll be like this". Now, you can't tell me that every parent wouldn't want to have an adorable kid like that one. Lastly, the child in the ad makes it very memorable, which is very good for the company's brand recognition.
Response to adam amir:
Adam, I agree with your analysis of children in the happy meal commercials. They are chock full of kids playing with the toys, and in fact, they usually feature the actual characters in the commercial too (as if to make it seem like the movie/TV show/game comes to you with the toy). One recent example of this would be the Star Wars Episode III toy promotion ads for Burger King. Near the end of the commercial, there was a scene with the kids at the restaurant playing with the toys when C3PO, Chewbacca, and a couple other characters approach the table where the kids are sitting. This is very effective advertising towards children, because the ads make it seem like they will be "in" their favorite movie just by coming to the restaurant. Of course, they don't actually get to meet the characters at the restaurant, but I'm sure the toy is enough of a distraction to make them forget that. :)
The first product that uses a child to advertise, that I thought of, was Life Cereal. It all started with the first child the company chose, Mikey. Mikey was a “finicky four year old” that did not like anything, but liked Life Cereal. Their slogan became “Mikey likes it,” and children and adults everywhere soon began to like it also. Then in 1997 Life held a contest in order to pick the next Life kid. As a child, I wanted to enter the contest, but I was not allowed to because my parents would not let me. The next Life kid was Brianna, and she led a new generation of children to enjoy Life. I think the reason this company chose to have a child market its product is because it was supposed to “help kids grow strong,” and if other children saw that a kid was eating it and liked it, they would eat it too. As for advertising Life Cereal to adults, children in commercials are always made out to be so cute and adorable; this makes the product more appealing to everyone of all ages.
Two television commercials that came to my mind when I thought of this topic were Kraft macaroni and cheese and Jello (especially Jello jigglers).
As far as I know, Kraft has used children for most of its advertisements ever since I was a child. The kids in the commercial are singing, dancing, and just having a wonderful time. When a child sees another child having a good time, they will probably want what that child has. Using kids to lure the attention of other kids is a good marketing scheme.
There are usually plenty of happy, smiling, satisfied children in Jello commercials as well. I'll never forget the Jello commercials with Bill Cosby. Everyone was having so much fun- seeing that commercial always made me wish that I was eating Jello too. Around the time of that Jello commercial, I went to a friend's birthday party and she had Jello jigglers. I was all excited to eat them because my mom never bought them. I think its funny how kids can be so greatly impacted by such small things. The same reason applies for this commercial as for the Kraft one- kids are drawn to the object of gratification of another child. Kraft and Jello are using what they know about children to get the attention of other kids, who will in turn ask their parents to buy what they see in the ad.
In response to kadler’s response to laurenb…
I have to agree with you about that jingle being extremely catchy and hard to forget. I myself now have it stuck in my head, like I always did after every Oscar Meyer commercial I saw. Because of that song, and the children singing it, I am sure it was an instant hit. Do you remember when they held a contest and the prize was getting driven around in the big Oscar Meyer hot dog mobile for a day? That was also a genius idea to get kids interested in their product.
in response to chelseyc...
I definitely agree with everything you said. In fact, when brainstorming for this blog, Welch's juice came to me first. (I picked a different product because this one was taken. haha) The kids they use are very memorable. I can picture exactly the little girl you are talking about and I also remember Spanky from the Little Rascals being an advertiser. I think that the marketing is sending that message "If you use this product you will be like this". This is a common thing that advertisers will do. They offer you something that seems too good to resist or show someone that you want to be like. And perhaps, if you consume the product this person has consumed, maybe you too will achieve what they have achieved.
In response to leslie scott’s blog Kraft was very clever when designing the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese commercial because of the fun jingle. Also Bill Cosby is a classic for doing the Jello commercials, not only do parents recognize the character from the Cosby Show but they also realize that if he is doing the commercial, that is a product they want to be buying their kids. Both products are fun and somewhat healthy for kids and you know that your child is having a good snack!
Keith Pierson Toyota (Jacksonville) uses children in advertisements. In fact, Pierson uses his twin daughters to market his product. The girls are identical and are around 10 or 11 years old. In the spots, the girls are often speaking at the same time and wearing matching outfits. By using his twin daughters in his advertisements, Pierson has made his dealership stand out in a very competative market. Everyone recognizes when the "Pierson twins" appear across the screen. Pierson has also used the girls in advertisements via billboard and radio to market his dealership.
In response to laurenb, the Oscar Meyer advertisements and the Keith Pierson advertisements which I addressed in my blog have similar reasoning for using children in the manner which they are presented. Oscar Meyer really only has one advertisement. The company may use different children but the message always reads the same..."Oscar Meyer has a way with b-o-l-o-g-n-a." Keith Pierson Toyota, uses the same advertisement strategy in that each advertisement presents his twin daughters wearing matching outfits, speaking together. The goal of advertisements like this is repetition to ensure memory. No one forgets the Oscar Meyer song even if, as lbladder said, you don't even like bologna! Even though we may not all own a Toyota or be in the market to purchase one, everyone recognizes the commercials instantaneously and nobody can deny the precious appearance of the twin Pierson girls.
The first brand that came to my mind was Clabber Girl Baking Powder. It was not originally called Clabber Girl Brand and the packaging depicted a woman "clabbering" milk. Prior to the invention of leavening bakers would use many things to leaven their baked goods and one of these was clabbered milk; milk that had been left out to sour or "clabber" and the Hulman & Company Co. wanted to let consumers know what their new powder was for, hence the name Clabber Brand. The powder became very popular but in the 1920's new food laws forced them to change the name since there was no clabber or milk in the product. So to keep a familiarity with their consumers the company added "Girl" on to the end and changed the label, by making a young girl holding a plate of biscuits the new logo. In the 1920's young girls were taught the ways of the kitchen and were expected to become homemakers. I think that having a young girl who is smiling and holding a plate of biscuits invokes a sense of hominess and lets the consumer know that the Clabber Girl Brand is a family oriented company. I think that many companies that have a product that is not necessarily for children but still uses a child/children as a visual part of their product is borrowing on the sense of innocence that children traditionally stand for and using these children is a subtle way of lending a perception of innocence to the product and/or company.
In response to Laurenb:
The Oscar Mayer Weiner jingle is a ingenious way to market a product that (I think) originally would not seem so appetizing to anyone over 20. By consistently using children in their commercials Kraft Foods has successfully built a lunchroom empire and have been able to produce many other products that are geared towards a certain age range of the population while securing their place in American history. I think that this product and it's commercialism was introduced at a time when companies realized the potential that could be found in "future" consumers and started to target the market that they were indeed producing for. Oscar Mayer has a way with ad-verti-sing!
In response to danielle e:
Kraft is now holding a "Sing the Jingle, Be a Star" competition.
http://www.singthejingle.com/
I'm surprised that no one before me has mentioned cough syrups and kleenex. Cough syrup may be more obvious since it is a product made for children; it would make sense that children would be in the advertisements. I think it is a good example that relates to something we talked about in class-parents see these commercials and feel like inadequate parents if they don't buy their children the best medicines.
Kleenex in a way is closely related to these cough syrup commercials. The main difference I noticed though is that there are no Kleenex commercials (that I can think of) that feature adults. One in particular that comes to mind is the TV commercial with the animation of the children. It is told like a story in ryhme, and at the end the child is all better. These commercials in actuality are targeting the adults that want to get their children the best products available.
In responce to jschneider...
I think you brought up a good point about the twins recognizability. It proves that an enormous part of advertising has to do with the recognizability of the product. When people are at the store, they are more likely to reach for the product that they know from television, than one they have never seen before.
Everyone has that one commercial that always makes them smile when it comes on television. Coincidently, my favorite commercial has one of the cutest kids as their spokesperson. The Welch’s grape juice spokesperson is always a child that is super cute to look at and even cuter to listen to. The child is always shown drinking a glass of grape juice they can barely hold and telling the world exactly how good it is. I love Welch’s grape juice and the sole reason is the children that advertise it. Welch’s uses children to appeal to other children and also adults. By displaying a child enjoying the product other children will want it. Also, by putting such adorable, appealing children in the commercial it makes adults say “Oh she’s SO cute!” and therefore encourages them to buy the product.
RESPONSE TO DANIELLE E
I love that you wanted to enter the Life contest because so did I! I agree completely about your view on advertising to children as well as adults. I also thought it was great to mention the Life contest because it shows another aspect of advertising, consumer involvement.
Child advertising and using children in the marketing of certain products is something that has it's place in certain circumstances.
Rather than look at how a certain product is effectively marketed by children, I will show how certain products can be very much ineffectively marketed when children come into play.
For the most part, children can be used to market pretty much market any type of product. This is because children use pretty much every product in one way or another that an adult buys. For example, a car commercial with the child riding safely in the back seat appeals to the parent's sense of safety for their child. Even though the product is never intended to be sold to the child and isn't even advertised directly toward the child, it is still quite effective to have the child in the advertisement.
On the other hand, advertisements for certain products would disgust and shock many people if a child was used. We would never expect to see an 8 yr old girl in a tampon commercial. Who would buy those tampons after that?
On the TV show 'The Man Show', a 30 yr old man named Andy Melinaukas with some aging disease that makes him look pre-pubescent was sent out into the streets to sell beer at a beer stand. The street goers that passed by assumed the young looking boy was selling lemonade. They were shocked when they realized he was selling beer. If someone set up that beer stand as an actual business, hiring a young child to sell the beer wouldn't probably be the most profitable decision.
All in all, using children to market products has its pros and cons. The advertiser must decide whether his product will benefit if a child advertises it, because in some circumstances, it will not.
In response to Jschneider:
A car salesman in South Florida has a similar, yet more effective way of advertising his vehicles. Rather than use his 2 daughters to make his ads stand out, he has Hooters girls ride across the hood of the car. Not only does this make his name and dealership more memorable, but it keeps viewers tuned in.
The ad that instantly came to my mind when I read this blog was for Coppertone Sun-Tan Lotion. The Coppertone Sun-Tan lotion ad depicts a small girl, probably around four or five years old, with a dog pulling down her bathing suit bottom. The girl is portrayed as tan and has a cute, playful attitude towards the dog. I think Coppertone chose the young girl as their logo to convey “fun in the sun” to its consumers and also the tan line of the girl demonstrates the product’s effectiveness. During the time when this logo was first introduced, people thought exposure to the sun was healthy and in fact, the slogan for the ad was “Don't be a paleface!” However, recently Coppertone revised the drawing of the child in order to be more in accordance with todays more conservative and moral vies. I found it to be really interesting how Coppertone adjusted its image in order to appeal to its primary market: parents. Before with the favorable opinion towards sun exposure, the image shows the girl’s entire buttocks while today’s drawing depicts only her lower backside being covered and or even wearing a hat and t-shirt while holding a Coppertone bottle.
In response to jschneider...
I live in Jacksonville as well and I always see the Pierson twin commercials and on billboards. I agree that it makes Keith Pierson's dealership stand out, I think it makes it seem more family oriented because he uses his daughters. This probably appeals to consumers because it displays a wholesome image for Keith Pierson. They've become famous around Jacksonville in their own way which I saw first hand when a family friend's daughter became very excited because she saw them shopping at Claire's accessories.
The first thing that comes to my mind would have to be the Welch's Grape Juice commercials. Remember the commercials where they always have a very young, but obviously well trained child spouting the benifits of drinking Welch's brand juices. The child always has a glass or container of juice, with a white background and just the child drinking the juice. The use of children in these ads is quite obvious, the majority of people drinking grape juice would have to be young children. Often not allowed to have soft drinks, and tired of milk, kids are looking for something sweet. A child talking to a child, in turn talking to the parents, helps to instill the product within the kid's minds. Next time they go with their parents to the grocery store, they will ask for Welch's. Market something for kids, by kids, to kids (and parents).
In response to Amanda..
I don't think the Coppertone Sunscreen adds are directly marketed to children. I think the graphic is supposed to grab the parents attention. Why read labels when the purpose of the purchase is right on the packaging.
Mederma comes to mind when I think of a product that uses a child in its advertisements. It shows a child hurting himself and then then the resulting scratch or scrape or what-have-you. Next, it shows the parent putting the Mederma cream on and shows the scar fading over the course of time. I think that Mederma is using a child here because no one wants to see a child hurt, and especially not scarred. Children also do not have many scars. I think adults respond to this because they do and have more experience with injury and want to keep as many scars away as possible.
IN RESPONSE TO danielle e:
I totally agree with your response about Life cereal. Every parent wants their child to "grow strong". Children also learn by association, so if they see another young person eating the cereal and enjoying it, they're obviously going to want to as well.
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