I’m in the middle of reading a great book titled Consuming Kids by Susan Linn that addresses the issue of advertising and marketing to children. I can’t say enough about how good a read this is, but here is a quote to give you an idea:
The problem is that while parents are trying to set limits, marketing executives are working day and night to undermine their authority. For parents raising children who are innately more impulsive, or more likely to take risks, the stakes are even higher. These are the children who are eager to explore the world and who are more likely to test limits – which means that adhering to the advice of “pick your battles” is difficult even under normal circumstances.
She examines how psychologists today are employed by marketers to make sure the advertising is as effective as possible – trying to create a loyal consumer from the cradle to the grave, as they say. She adds this sad fact to the discussion:
The 1992 Ethical Principles of the American Psychological Association include one titled “Social Responsibility,” which stated, among other things, that psychologists should “apply and make public their knowledge of psychology in order to contribute to human welfare.” I was dismayed, however, to discover that in the new version of the principles, effective June 2003, the APA eliminated that sentence – and the entire Social Responsibility Principle – from the document.
