Advertising to Young Children is Misleading and Unfair, States National Financial Educators Council

 Advertisers in the US spend more than $4 billion every year marketing products to children, states a report from the National Financial Educators Council.  This practice, says the organization, “continues despite the fact that researchers and legal scholars alike – including the American Psychological Association – concur that advertising to young children is misleading and unfair. Children below the age of 8 years have underdeveloped cognitive skills, and thus are unable to distinguish biased advertising messages from fact.”

“This unfair practice of targeting young children with marketing inspired (the organization) to conduct a survey of American adults to clarify where they stand on the issue. The Advertising to Kids survey, conducted from October 13 – November 1, 2021, asked 3,298 citizens across the US to answer three questions:

• Should companies advertise to kids younger than 8 years old?  79.7% responded “Definitely No” or “No.”
• Is advertising to kids younger than 8 years old unethical? 57% responded “Definitely Yes” or “Yes”.
• Should junk food companies advertise to kids younger than 8 years old? 76.6% responded “Definitely No” or “No.””

View the complete survey results here.

PHOTO: National Financial Educators Council