Advertising our way to nonsense

I really have to give props to advertisers in America. They know their audience. Kid TV channels aren't really for entertaining kids (okay I know no TV really is), but the line between show and commercial is even more blurred on the kid channels.

Like all kids, my kids fall for the crap they sell on TV. The believe everything told to them and insist they need to own it all. Kids are told what to buy and what to eat by the ads on the TV. I get it - how else would these companies sell all this crap to kids? But, it is extreme. I try at a young age to explain ads to my kids, but they really can't understand that the action figure will never be as cool as on TV once they get it home. They can't even fathom that it would be any different then what they see on the boob tube.

What I find even more strange is that the companies advertise for adult items on kids' channels too because they know many parents are in the same room as their kids - or perhaps that kids will pressure the parents into buying some cool As Seen on TV stuff.

My first recognition of how much kids absorb these commercials came when Ethan was three. We were at the California State Fair walking through the exhibit building where they sell stuff when Ethan got very excited and wanted to show me something. The Adjust-o-matic bed - "look mom it is just like the one I see on TV, you can sit up and read in bed, you really need one of these" - he could recite the whole infomercial, and I was kind of shocked and disgusted at the same time.

Then, Emmett kept telling me he wanted NEW BERRY LUCKY CHARMS at the grocery store. I couldn't find them anywhere until I realized that wasn't the name. He was just repeating the commercial for me word-for-word. New! Berry Lucky Charms!

Of course I am rather naive - I try not to watch commercials - so I am not an expert on most of the cool new products. However, I do keep a list of things the kids would like for gifts. A list I send out to relatives before Christmas and Birthdays.

Last year, I sent the boys' lists to my sister, Jamie. Jamie called me immediately laughing. She wanted to know why Kaboom toilet cleaner was on Emmett's list. I told her I didn't know what she was talking about - he asked for Kaboom and I added it to the list - I had no idea it was a toilet cleaner. I called Emmett into the room and asked him what Kaboom was. He told me it was a toilet cleaner, so I asked him why it was on his gift list. He responded, "the commercial said it would help keep the toilet clean, so I thought you could use one since you are always complaining the toilet is dirty."  Obviously, marketing to kids is the BEST idea ever.