It is well known that businesses and advertisers
attack children in an attempt to extract
money from their (the children's) parents.
Children, who may not have yet developed the necessary critical thinking skills, are especially vulnerable to advertising and its influence. This is one of the many reasons the implementation of extensive media education in schools is imperative.
I present here, for entertainment, edification and, hopefully, a little outrage, a survey I received via email. This survey is part of ongoing demographic investigations into the best ways to manipulate children into becoming as consumerist as their parents.
As you may already know,
Philadelphia will play host to the Summer
X-Games in 2001-2002. This is a great
opportunity for us to
promote Pennsylvania
tourism, and BK Pittsburgh is in the midst of developing a
campaign to reach out to the more than 300,000 spectators that are expected to be in attendance at this summer’s
event.
A majority of the audience will be children between the ages of 6-12 and we wanted to take a moment to learn a little bit more about their interests. If you have a child, niece or nephew within this age range we would appreciate if you could help us by answering the following questions. Please reply to xxxxxxx (email address removed) with all responses.
1. What are the ages and sex of your children, niece or nephew?
2. What is their favorite TV show?
3. What is their favorite game show, if any?
4. What types of collectibles/toys are of interest to your children?
5. What are your children’s favorite types of games (i.e., video games, board games, action games)
6. What are your children’s favorite sports?
7. What if any sport associated with the X-Games does your child have a particular interest in?
____ Skateboarding
____ In-line skating
____ Street bikes/Dirt bikes
I'm not sure what's more
reprehensible; the naked attempt to use children's interests to
sell them crap they don't need, or that parents might actually fill out this survey.