Children's Advertising Grows Up, but Not Everyone Approves

By JESUS SANCHEZ

May 29, 1990 12 AM PT

The ad campaign launched by the Seven-Up Co. 2 1/2 years ago could have been called childish, and the soft-drink firm would have been the first to agree.

Children 6 to 12 were the target of a 7-Up television commercial that featured an animated character named Dot--modeled after the red circle found on the soda label--who played baseball with peas and carrot sticks inside a refrigerator.

For the record:

12:00 a.m. May 30, 1990 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday May 30, 1990 Home Edition Business Part D Page 2 Column 6 Financial Desk 1 inches; 27 words Type of Material: Correction
Buses--The city agency that oversees Commuter Express was incorrectly identified in Tuesday’s Marketing column. The correct name is the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

“We’ve met with a lot of success,” said marketing chief Russ Klein of the Dot campaign. Since its debut, kids are drinking 20% more 7-Up than before. “We felt that it was important to keep the brand present among that age group . . . it was important to address future consumers.”

Madison Avenue is chasing television’s Saturday morning crowd as growing numbers of companies--from hotels to makers of microwaveable meals--roll out new children’s products and hope to win over future consumers. But many say the trend will only serve to further exploit and mislead children.

“The overall thrust of most of the advertising to kids has not been informational,” said Charlotte Baecher, editor of Penny Power, a consumer magazine for kids published by Consumers Union. “It has been emotional, and it has been unfair.”

Despite the criticism, many companies have found that the children’s market has grown too large and too lucrative to resist.

Newcomers to children’s advertising such as Tyson Foods, Reebok, Burger King and others have joined cereal and toy makers in pitching products to preteens. Ads have popped up in video games and in classrooms, courtesy of Whittle Communications’ controversial Channel One. Television networks have sold a record $500 million worth of commercial time on kids programs for the 1990-91 season, according to industry publication Advertising Age. Kids even get junk mail.

“There are more and more companies every day that are realizing the potential of the market,” said Clifford M. Scott, vice president of Scott Lancaster Mills Atha, a Los Angeles agency that recently began to focus on children’s advertising.

Companies are attracted by the size of the so-called baby boomlet of about 43 million children under age 12 who spend an estimated $6 billion a year from allowances and gifts.

More important, children raised by busy working parents influence at least $50 billion worth of household purchases, said James McNeal, a marketing professor at Texas A&M; who studies the buying habits of children.

“It’s not subtle influence,” McNeal said. “This is ‘I gotta have this or I will die’ type of influence.”

“The children are getting drawn more into the decision-making process,” said Sam Ashenofsyk, co-founder of Network of Independent Broadcasters, which sells commercial ad time on after-school programs. “It would be a good idea if they are presented with what the product is all about.”

Researchers have found that children as young as age 4 begin to develop brand awareness and influence what parents buy.

Young children “typically pay more attention to the commercials than the program,” said USC marketing professor Henrianne Sanft, who studies the impact of advertising on children. “They think that ads are entertaining and entertainment.”

The young readers of Sports Illustrated for Kids devote as much attention to ads--which kids refer to as “commercials”--as to stories, says publisher Ann S. Moore, who notes that the ads give the magazine a grown-up look that appeals to kids. “The kids say, ‘It’s a real product just for me. It’s not a textbook. It has commercials.’ ”

Creating ads for children has become more sophisticated. Firms such as Tyson Foods developed separate ad campaigns for kids and their parents to sell the same product, such as their microwaveable meals for children called “Looney Tunes.” The television commercials emphasize the “fun” of Looney Tunes and were made primarily for children, while print ads aimed at parents stress nutritional aspects.

Many of today’s ads borrow heavily from kids’ popular culture, such as music videos and video games. Cuteness, once the trademark of kids commercials, is now considered passe.

“It’s not the warm and fuzzy teddy bear types of images,” said Burke Cueny, director of national advertising for Domino’s Pizza, whose recent first children’s commercial was titled “Yo, Domino’s.” “What was making the greatest impact was the fast-moving, quicker cut, and fairly stronger musical spots. That’s the type of spot we put together.”

Some companies have created tiers of products and ads aimed at creating lifelong customers from Day 1. Reebok, for example, makes a line of Weebok shoes for children up to age 5 and a line of sneakers--and ads--for kids up to age 10.

“We hope by the time he is 10,” said senior marketing director Gordie Nye, “he is paying attention to the Reebok adult advertising.”

Executives like Nye say their ads are not aimed at duping kids into buying their product. But advertising critics say kids age 8 and younger often confuse commercials with programs and do not realize that they are being persuaded to buy something.

“I think young kids can be deceived by thinking a product is something it is not,” said Sanft. “Kids believe everything they see. Educating them is the key to keeping them from being deceived.”

Advertising often pits children against parents in a battle to buy what has been promoted, says Baecher at Consumers Union, which will release a study next month on the impact of advertising on children.

“The marketers realize that if they get kids wanting something badly enough, the kids will wear down their parents enough until they get it,” said Baecher.

Peggy Charren, president of Action for Children’s Television, which is lobbying for a cap on commercials during children’s programs, says she believes that parents have already been worn down. “I think we are able to accept more manipulation of kids than we did in the past.”

But advertisers dismiss much of the criticism. “We know that parents are still the gatekeepers,” said Klein at Seven-Up. “Our position has been all along to establish awareness among children.”

“We have an obligation to make sure that the advertising is appropriate,” said Moore at Sports Illustrated for Kids. The magazine requires ads, for example, to prominently display company symbols and will not place basketball shoe ads, for example, near stories about basketball.

It may be in the best interest for advertisers to keep on their toes because children become increasing skeptical of ads as they grow older, said Sanft.

“They don’t really trust commercials,” she said. “They learned advertisers were trying to sell them something.”

Commission Urges Drivers to Taper Off

The Los Angeles Transportation Commission is trying to get commuters out of their cars one day at a time. In ads topped by the headline “Once a week is all it takes,” drivers are urged to ride the city-financed Commuter Express lines.

“Changing the driving habits of Southern Californians is one of the toughest things to do,” said Gay Silberg, who helped create the Graham Silberg Sugarman ad agency. “One way to change behavior is to change it a little bit at a time.”

Of course, the goal is to eventually make those once-a-week riders into more frequent customers, says Jim McLaughlin, the commission’s acting chief of transit programs. “So if somebody takes it once, they will see that it will work.”

Ketchum Awarded Ramada Hotel Account

The agency Ketchum Advertising/Los Angeles has been awarded the advertising business for Ramada International Hotels & Resorts. Ketchum will handle the advertising for 45 Ramada properties in the United States and Canada. No dollar value was placed on the account, but a Ramada official said spending might reach $20 million during an expansion planned over the next five years.

Pic ‘N’ Save Ad Takes Roller Coaster Ride

The Pic ‘N’ Save discount chain will unveil a new television commercial in Los Angeles within a week that puts the company’s advertising on a different track.

The new spot combines shots of shopping at Pic ‘N’ Save and riding the Colossus roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Developed originally for its newest markets, the commercial seeks to convey “the unexpected nature of the merchandise (customers) will find,” said Brad Ball at the agency Davis, Ball & Colombatto.

Pic ‘N’ Save’s current commercial spokesman, Sheldon McCluskey, the chain’s chief of warehousing and distribution, will appear in the new campaign as a passenger aboard the Colossus.

In reality, said McCluskey, “I didn’t ride. I sat still and they shook the camera. As I get older, roller coasters seem to get taller.”

BIG SPENDERS

Kids ages 4 to 12 spend about $6 billion a year from allowances and gifts . . .

Expenditures

Product/Service: (in billions)

Snacks and candy: $2.077

Toys: 1.879

Clothing: 0.690

Movies and sports: 0.606

Video arcades: 0.486

Other (tapes, stereos, etc.): 0.264

. . . and influence at least another $50 billion a year in household purchases.