Mommy, Can I go to Vegas?

This last Thanksgiving I was in Las Vegas… with my kids. Normally, I would not have brought the kids to Vegas and to all its decadence, but we were there for a family reunion and our kids were exposed to the lights, sounds, and experiences of what Las Vegas had to offer. My 9-year old asked, “Mommy, what is Glitter Glutch?” as a billboard truck rolled along side us while we were driving The Strip. Uh… oh… We are not going back to Vegas with them any time soon, but I did see A LOT of kids. A LOT. They were walking with their parents wearing Mardi Gras beads, holding shiny, blinking drink cups, and sucking on gambling-dice shaped lollipops. According to author, Joel Bakan in this article — “there is, after all, nothing ‘stickier’ than addiction.”

As a result of my experience in Vegas, I started thinking about advertising, marketing, or communications geared to kids. It’s big business. The consumer food industry is closely watched as to how companies market to kids. One company, Coca-Cola has had a policy for a few years to not market to kids under 12. Since twelve is commonly used as a cut-off point as it is believed that children have already developed their consumer behavior by that age (Valkenburg & Cantor, 2001), many other companies have followed. Nickelodeon is an example of another such company.

While there are groups and councils calling for regulations on advertising and marketing to kids in the United States, there are no firm guidelines or rule books. The US industry remains largely self-regulated. Internationally, the International Chamber of Commerce  drafted a global code for marketing communications. I wonder if ratings like NC-17 or PG-13 and that kind of regulation would work in this area of marketing. How do you feel about marketing to kids? Get them while they are young — how do you feel about this statement?

References

Bachman, Katie. (May 2013) Coca-cola makes global pledge to not target kids under 12. Adweek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/coca-cola-makes-global-pledge-not-target-kids-under-12-149298

Bakan, Joel. (August 2011). How game designers strategically keep kids addicted to playing. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-bakan/game-designers-addicted_b_899377.html

Thielman, Sam. (March 2013). Marketing to kids is an obstacle course. Adweek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/news/television/marketing-kids-obstacle-course-147994

Valkenburg, Patti M. & Cantor, Joanne. (January 2001). The development of a child into a consumer. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.