Advertising to Children: The Brainwashing of Today's Youth

The purpose of advertising systems in this capitalistic society is for consumers to believe that goods have the power to create happiness. Since advertisers have long realized that the objects most important to a person are actually immaterial and represent personal and social values such as love, friendship and self-esteem, they have gone to great lengths to associate products with these themes. The result is a “magic system” in which goods are completely transformed from inanimate objects into things that embody values, desires, and goals. (Jhally) Major corporations are using advertising to govern behaviour, mould attitudes, and construct and define children’s identities for the sole purpose of making them early consumers. “We are strip-mining our children's minds and doing it for commercial profit.” (Al Gore) Most people agree that companies should not posses such power over children’s minds, but nothing is being done about it. It is crucial to examine how advertising s...