Child Friendly? : The Change of Attitude towards the Exploitation of

Children in Advertisement

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Hager

Weslati for her guidance and constant support throughout this process.

Without her enthusiasm and encouragement this dissertation would not have

been possible. Your mentorship is a wonderful privilege.

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Contents

Introduction………….……………………………………….………….…………4

Chapter 2: Advertising in Disguise……………….……………………………...7

Chapter 3: Social Awareness or Social Exploitation……………….....………16

Chapter 4: The Child As a Celebrity Brand.……………………….….……….23

Conclusion……………………………………………….…………….……….…31

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CHAPTER I: Introduction

(1) General introduction

Children have been defined and placed in particular categories by society and

generations. Traditional views on children are they are represented to be

innocent, passive and vulnerable whom need to be protected by adults;

though in recent years’ children are growing up to contradict these categories

“The majority of the world’s children today do not live according to ‘our’

conception of childhood” (Buckingham, 2000, p. 10). Public discourse and the

ideologies of children and childhood have created a sense of moral panic and

invoked a notion of ‘crisis’ for the public. By exploring how children are

represented in the past and the present will argue that contemporary

meanings of childhood are shaped in today’s 21st century era.

Children have become an increasingly important market as a

consumer. Children are growing up today in a marketing and consuming

industry as the children’s market is one of the biggest and generate the most

money which is why debates show that commercial targeting of kids is

quantitatively and qualitatively different than the past (Schor, 2004). It is

reasonable to say young children, lack the skills and maturity to understand

advertising or the strategies marketers are trying to sell to them therefore are

easy targets.

In recent debates the figure of the child consumer has been the focus

in which marketers claim that children are being empowered by the new

commercial environment where on the other hand few claim that their entry

into the marketplace has had a wide range of negative consequences for their

wellbeing (Buckingham, 2013).

Companies are using a range of new tactics, which you can argue could raise

important ethical concerns. Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI,

2003) discusses food marketing to children and uses Disney channel as an

example of how times have changed. He states, “when it was launched in the

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early 1980s, the Disney channel did not accept any outside advertising. In

2002 that changed, and Disney began to air commercials for McDonalds”

(CSPI, 2003). There has been a long history of marketing children; it is not a

new phenomenon although we have seen a significant change in how

marketing and advertising strategize the ideology of children. Pestering parent

journal portrays how marketing to children have been a huge success but with

ethical and moral issues. “Food manufacturers and chain restaurants use

aggressive and sophisticated marketing techniques to attract children’s

attention, manipulate their food choices, and prompt them to pester their

parents to purchase products” (CSPI, 2003). However now we are seeing a

gradual change in how marketers now use children in branding and adverts to

entice the parents and adults in to buying into products.

(2) Research question:

This dissertation does not focus on children as marketing targets, but

rather on the use of children in branding and advertisement. The aims are to

explore children’s relationship with the media and how the evolvement of

media platforms such as advertising and marketing have changed our

perspectives on the ideology of children and childhood from previous times.

What has caused this drastic change in attitude towards seeing children in

branding and marketing and is the change for the better of children?

(3) Concepts, theoretical framework and methodology:

The methodological approach this dissertation will use would be

analysing adverts and social awareness campaigns in order to gain an

understanding of how children are being featured in adverts and how they

take an active role as the face of the brand.

Buckingham (2000, 2013) discusses the changing social constructions

of childhood in the twenty first century, he claims childhood has been lost. He

states “Historically, media education has largely been characterized by forms

of defensiveness; it has been motivated by the desire to protect children from

what are seen to be the moral, cultural or political shortcomings of the media”

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(Buckingham, 2000, p. 205) though as the media and technology grows in the

21st century so does the ideology of children and childhood.

Marketers play on the dreams of children and exploit their

vulnerabilities (Mayo and Nairn, 2009). Overall they explore how like never

before corporations are targeting children in order to sell them dreams

through exploiting their vulnerabilities. By also re-selling images of youth back

to adults is a marketing strategy that allows for adults and parents to stay

young through children.

Sharon Beder (Beder, Varney, and Gosden, 2009) discusses the way

that corporations are targeting younger children with a barrage of advertising

and marketing designed to turn them into hyper consumers who define

themselves by what they have rather then what they are. The chapter on

celebrity lifestyles explores how celebrity culture has created and allowed for

children to become hyper consumers which have led to it being a norm in

today’s society.

This generation has seen the development of media from the creation

of the interactive world where being online is as comfortable as being offline;

(Lindström, 2004) the evolution of living in an interactive world has created a

whole new way of seeing and this dramatic change have created new

attitudes in how important factors in society are being represented. The

change of ideology in children have allowed for new ways in which children

are represented. It is debatable to argue children have an advantage in this

new generation.

(4) Chapter outline

In chapter one and two I will explore how the drastic change in

marketers attitude is portrayed when children are featured in adverts. Chapter

one will explore how children featured in commercial adverts are portrayed

and represented by how they take an active role in the adverts itself. The

examples I will explore portray how children are not necessarily the main

marketing targets but it’s their parents and adults who are displaced in the

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position of the child. Chapter two reviews how children are used as a tool in

social awareness campaigns and how the campaigns are created to invoke

fear on audiences in order to gain awareness whilst targeting audiences’

emotional triggers. Chapter three, the child as a celebrity brand explores

celebrity’s lifestyle and discusses how the new modern era of the 21st century

has changed the attitudes of how we see children. By exploring their lifestyle

gives us a different perspective on how the use of children in adverts became

acceptable.

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CHAPTER 2: Advertising in Disguise

The aims of adverts are to sell or create an awareness of a product or issue.

Although advertising may influence consumers in different ways, “the primary

goal of any campaign is to increase the probability that consumers exposed to

a particular campaign will recall, think, feel, or behave in a particular way

about a specific brand”. (Belch and Belch, 2002). This chapter aims to explore

the drastic change in attitude when children are featured in adverts through

the body expressions of a child.

Stuart Hall cites Steve Neal’s article on genre and examines the idea of

‘Verisimilitude’. Neal argues it refers “not to what may or may not actually be

the case, but rather to what the dominant culture believes to be the case,

what is generally accepted as credible” (Hall, 1997, p. 360). He then

distinguishes between cultural and generic verisimilitude to show how adverts

use the play of fantasy while reinforcing social norms when featuring children

in adverts.

Using children in adverts as the face of a brand or as its story-teller

remains a controversial form of marketing both from a moral and legal

standpoint; though there is no doubt that this is now becoming a sub-genre in

its own right. “Companies use advertising and marketing to sell more product

(by switching children to their brand or increasing the overall sales of the

category) and increase profits. (CSPI, 2003, p. 35) There are different

regulations and ethical issues when regulating children’s adverts. They are

constantly regulated and maintained in order for advertisers to not cross the

ethical issue line. Schor discusses how in the past twenty-five years, the

willingness of the federal government to regulate children’s advertising and

media has eroded significantly. (Schor, 2000)

John Lewis are a global brand and is known to market to a wide

audience. Their Christmas advert has now become an established seasonal

tradition that consumers (are led to believe) that they should look forward to

with as much anticipation as the switching on of the Christmas streetlights.

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This year their ‘man on the moon’ advert features both a young child and an

elderly man. The contrast between these two characters portrays the

company’s versatility.

The ‘man on the moon’ advert put a charitable spin on its campaign

this year to raise awareness for Age UK. The advert plays on the heartstring

of the viewer’s by telling a story of a young girl who spots an old man living in

a hut on the moon through a telescope. After failing to attract his attention,

she sends up a Christmas parcel containing another telescope, and a tear

trickles down his cheek when he finds her waving at him.

The message of the young girl, named Lily, sending the old man a

parcel was to show someone is thinking about him. The ad’s strapline is:

“Show someone they’re loved this Christmas”, which echoes Age UK’s own

campaign: “No one should have no one at Christmas”. The young child allows

for the character to play on the emotions; girls are stereotypically portrayed to

be known for being emotional which creates an emotional effect on the

consumers. By creating an emotional connection between the characters and

consumers allows for the audience to connect with the brand. Children play

an important role as influencers on parents and as this advert is aimed at

adults the imagery of the young child you can argue will invoked empathy for

the child which all in all connects the ideology of the emotion with the brand.

Figure 1 and 1.1 are screen grabs from the John Lewis (2015) advert in which the image of the child’s eye in contrast with the elderly man’s eye is used to invoke emotional fear.

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In figure 1 the image of the child’s eyes denotes the sign of innocence

in a child in comparison to the image of the elderly man’s eyes in figure 1.1.

The viewers/ consumers are invited to perceive the world (of John Lewis)

through the eyes of a child. Stereotypes are commonly found in adverts and

children are thought to be imaginative and wonderers and by portraying this

image is telling the audience to see the hopefulness of John Lewis. The

wonder of believing what we see and creating an imaginary exciting hopeful

world reflects how John Lewis would like its brand to be perceived.

The connection between Christmas and the figure or the idea of

childhood is crucial for this advert. The image of the sad young girl is used to

follow through as John Lewis retreats from the profane and subversive of a

Christmas ad and plays upon the ideologists of gender stereotypes by not

taking an interest with her brothers’ game console but on the idea of a fairy

tale which girls are commonly stereotypically known more for. This seems to

be a commodification of loneliness. Think about it, when was the last time you

were truly alone? No phone, social media, contact with human existence. As a

society, we have come to greatly fear this prospect. The use of the child to

portray this sadness is reaching out to the audience to create a sympathetic

connection with how the story will turn out. By creating this effect keeps the

viewer interested in wanting to see how the story plays out.

Interestingly, the story of Lily and ‘the man on the moon’ does not end

with the TV advert. It continues outside, in the real world across other media

texts. For instance, the advert designers created a special app; that users can

point at the moon in the John Lewis ad posters and shopping bags, to receive

updates and facts on the countdown to the full moon on Christmas Day, or

play a game on their smart phones.

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The “Man

on the Moon” TV advert is, therefore, a gateway to an endless world of play

and fantasy that continues in the form of a smart-phone app, or a video game,

children animation or an illustrated children e-book. This is another form of

marketing strategy to entice the ‘nag factor’ amongst parents in which brings

up debates on whether it is an ethical concern or not. However, if advertising

executives have any doubts these seems to centre only on whether it’s

effective, not whether it’s ethical (Linn, 2004, p. 33).

The representation of children is always linked with the idea that they

are the face of the future and The Windows 10 advert plays upon the idea in

their ‘The future starts now’ advert. It draws on both cultural and generic

verisimilitude in this case, the advertised product or brand Microsoft is not a

tangible object. The images of smiling children from different countries

around the world (see figure 4 and 4.1), give a shape and form to the

intangible and elusive notion of software. The crawling toddlers, their clumsy

tactile gestures, and the incomprehensible sounds they lead the viewer into a

world of wonders and fascination. The advert exudes joy and happiness and

using babies and toddlers to create this effect on audiences allows for a

distraction from what the basic message the marketers are portraying which is

Figure 2 (John Lewis, 2016) Figure 3 (Bolton, 2015)

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selling software although you can argue by leading them into a world of

wonders make the product more exciting than it is.

It is clear this advert is not marketed to chilren however Microsoft are

displacing the parents in the position of the child by inviting them into their

world. When the narrator asks the viewer to imagine, and begins listing what

children do, we are made aware that Windows 10 is simple, but capable of

many things. Security, flexibility of user interface and social media integration

are all mentioned as we watch children play, tear apart newspapers and even

share food with each other. The commercial draws to an end by reminding the

viewer that as the children get older and better at what they do, so will the

technology. This commercial cleverly uses children being children to show

that Microsoft are powerful yet simple.

The strapline “the future starts now” focuses on what Microsoft is

implicitly referring to as its future users. As we saw earlier with the John Lewis

“Man on the Moon” advert that associates the brand with a charity (Age UK),

Microsoft has also aligned its products and brand image with children

charities. Bill Gates famously pledged to make his products available to every

child on the planet.

The commercial ends with a simple, "Windows 10: The more human

way to do." By doing so creates a connection of using children in their adverts

in connection with technology. The purpose of this advert is to sell to people

into buying and upgrading to Windows 10 because it is what their kids will

need and want. The idea of making it seem as though this product is what

Figure 4. (Windows, 2015) Figure 4.1 (Windows, 2015)

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your children would want plays on the needs of parents and their desire to

give their children everything they want.

The McDonalds ‘Good Times - Fun’ TV advert tells the story of a little

boy whose quest for fun is thwarted at every turn. Signs and meanings shown

in the McDonalds advert drew heavily on cultural verisimilitude. The images of

the young boy doing everyday activities are portraying the norms of what a

regular young boy would do. This is signifying to the audience that McDonalds

are for ‘normal’ everyday people; this continues to portray the image of a

‘good time’ You can argue this is signifying the message that McDonalds is for

everyone and everyone can have a ‘good time’ even parents.

We have a set of meanings and symbols associate with the face of

children. In this case the child in the McDonalds advert is portraying the vibe

of curiosity, innocence and playfulness. The image of the sad child’s face

shown in figure 5.1 and throughout the advert is what parents would try to

prevent so the ideology of McDonalds possibly being the answer of a ‘good

time’ for children creates the idea that McDonalds is a good place for children

however in contrast McDonalds is deemed as not the healthiest place for

children. The effect this has on the audience you can argue would be

manipulation of believing an idea is something different then what it is. You

can argue the imagery of the mother, father and child is what society deems

as the standard family ratio; this creates the imagery of togetherness and as

everyone is happy towards the end of the advert when they go into

Figure 5 (adsoftheworldvideos, 2015)

Figure 5.1 (adsoftheworldvideos, 2015)

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McDonalds this creates the idea that McDonalds brings people together. The

role of the child in this advert creates a link between sad and happiness and

the idea of being lonely to the environment of being together.

Although all three adverts represent different brands, they all follow the

same pattern when featuring children in adverts; they use children as a tool to

emotionally manipulating the consumer. It is not clear whether the primary

marketing target is the child or the parents.

The three adverts have many similarities in how they portray children to

create different effects. The idea of future is mentioned or portrayed in some

way as they are presenting the idea that children are the future and investing

in the product/ brand they are selling to you will be an investment as to how

children are to their parents and to the world. The uses of gender roles in

adverts are shown to be effective for all three adverts also. For example, the

John Lewis advert uses a girl as the lead role for the child to play with

audiences’ emotions in order to gain and create an emotional connection.

This is important during the Christmas period, as during Christmas people

tend to go with companies they are more familiar and comfortable with. In

comparison to the McDonalds advert the lead character is a boy and the

effects of using a male role allows for the advert to portray a rougher and

realistic approach however McDonalds and John Lewis advert differs as one

uses a girl to portray a fantasy and the other portrays a realistic image. Hall

states “genres produce fictional worlds which function according to a

structuring set of rules or conventions, thereby ensuring recognition through

their conformity to generic verisimilitude” (Hall, 1997, p. 364)

All three adverts are using children in a subtle way to sell or enhance

the product they are selling. For example, you can argue McDonalds are

known to be unhealthy and not that great for children however by placing

them in the advert entitled ‘Good Times’ is portraying and enhancing the idea

that McDonalds is good for children. John Lewis is portraying the idea that the

product they are selling is going to enhance someone’s life however in this

case they are doing it more so by selling the imagery of the innocent child and

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elderly old man to pull on heart strings. Similarly, the Windows 10 advert uses

children to enhance the brands image of a multi functioning and universal

brand.

Barthes discusses the signs and meanings of a wrestler in which he

discusses their physiques; He argues that “the public wants the image of

passion, not passion itself” (Barthes, 1972, pp,16 -18). Similarly, the children

in adverts are images of the ideal child society wants, rather than the actual

child. Again, to paraphrase Barthes, we can say that the child portrayed in the

selected examples of adverts is a constructed and staged image of the child.

This image is emptied of any cultural, ethnic or social references and reduced

to a simple polarity that separates the world of adults from the world of

childhood.

Overall these adverts have shown us possible emerging trends in

advertising by incorporating children into adverts to create various effects on

audiences; from emotional to manipulation. Although adverts are very good at

creating effects to persuade audiences into buying or believing a product /

brand Judith Williamson states, “the advertising myth in our society is not a

naïve one, nor is it an ideological brain-washing forced upon us from above.

[…] Whatever effect advertising has on people; it is true their ‘conscious’

attitude to it will usually be sceptical”. (Williamson, 1994, p. 174) But this

sceptical attitude will be very difficult to sustain when a brand wears the face

of a child, or when it looks at us with the eyes of a child.

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CHAPTER 3: Social Awareness or Social Exploitation

The media play a central role in reflecting social and cultural issues for the

public but also play a role in producing them and one way of doing so is

through social awareness campaigns. Social awareness campaigns can be

defined as advertising to inform the public about a social issue or to influence

their behaviour. The purpose of awareness campaigns against smoking,

drugs and abuse is to educate the masses with hard-hitting messages. As

advertising is a form of mass communication it can be suggested to have

some social responsibilities to what effects the adverts give off to the public.

This chapter aims to explore how featuring children in social awareness

campaigns effects the audience’s perception and views when the ideology

and figure of the child is invoked.

Buckingham states social movements ranges from the broadly

progressive to the distinctly reactionary (2000) in which social awareness

campaigns aims to create. However, the ideology of children’s vulnerability

should be taken into account when invoking such imagery when creating

adverts for example Buckingham discusses what counts as ‘appropriate to the

age of the child’ or ‘injurious to his or her well-being’ let alone as a form of

‘exploitation’ (Buckingham, 2000, p. 200)

Commercial advertisements and social awareness campaigns are both

similar in the fact that they are used to create awareness of an issue or

product but the advert must also appeal to the viewer’s emotions. Commercial

adverts are created in order to sell a product or brand whereas social

awareness advertising promotes ideas in a more strategic way. More often

social awareness adverts use emotional manipulation to create effect on

audiences and you can argue children are powerful tools to enforce a

response. Many studies have indicated that emotion can have a powerful

effect on memory formation, ensuring that memories with emotion will last

longer than those without. (Kensinger, 2009)

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Figure 6, (DeMilked, 2010)

A continuing factor found when using children in adverts and marketing

is they are portrayed as the face of the future as also seen in the John Lewis

advert. The ideology of an innocent harmless child is effective in social

awareness campaigns such as smoking or domestic abuse are effective

strategies as the child is not in control of the situation that is harming them but

the situation caused by the people who the campaigns are targeted at have all

the control. David Buckingham (2013) notes, “In a climate of growing

uncertainty, invoking fears about children provides a powerful means of

commanding public attention and support” This portrays how the ideology of

children are changing in the fact that in order for social awareness campaigns

to be effective the strategy to invoke fear through imagery of children allows

for higher levels of attention.

Atkin states, “Most campaigns present persuasion appeals

emphasizing reasons why the audience should adopt the advocated action or

avoid the proscribed behaviour.” The persuasion appeal shown in the advert

in figure 6 would be the young innocent girl. Dafna Lemish discusses Chris

Greer (2007) argument that “children are often presented as “ideal victims” as

they are portrayed as “vulnerable, defenceless, innocent and worthy of

sympathy and compassion […] perpetuating the sacralisation of childhood”

(Lemish, 2015, p. 26). The child’s innocent facial expression is the focal point

of the advert as it portrays them as the victim and the public as the culprit in

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the advert (seen in figure 6, 7, 8) the culprit would be the parents. The tagline

reads ‘Children of parents who smoke, get to heaven earlier’ the image of the

blonde hair blue eyed girl adds to the effect of the tagline as you can argue it

is known that angels are described to have these features. The audience for

this advert is aimed at parents and it can be seen as the image of the child is

a reflection of their own child. The effects of these ads are created to generate

moral panic so the idea of death incorporated into the advert will create a

moral panic within parents as parents biggest fear would be the death of their

child.

Figure 7 is brzilian advert entitled

“Speak for her” (Paulo, 2012). This

advert portrays how children are not in

control of the harm.

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Belo Horizonte Child Abuse advert (seen in figure 7) portrays an image

of a young girl being abused in her home. The child is used in concern to

portray the vulnerability of children and how adults are the culprits of the

abuse. Atkin discusses the message sources in social awareness campaigns

and he states “The messenger is the presenter who appears in the message

[…] messengers help enhance each qualitative factor by being engaging

(attractiveness, likability)” (Atkin, 1989, p. 10). You can suggest the reasons

why children are effective in social awareness campaigns are due to their

attractiveness and likability. An image of a child automatically creates an

effect to audiences of the need to protect. The sad crying expression on her

face is telling the audience that the child is unable to communicate or address

the issue itself, which puts the blame on to the adults. This creates an effect

of sympathy from the audience

The child is seen as the helpless victim in this campaign. Buckingham

claims that “invoking fears about children provides a powerful means of

commanding public attention” (Buckingham, 2000, p. 11) This campaign is a

call to protect children which inflicts the notion of mobilizing support which is

what social campaigns main aim is to do. Using children in these campaigns,

by portraying them to be in danger is a smart way to create and gain public

attention, as the ideology of children in society first instinct is to protect them.

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Atkin discusses “Traditionally, prevention campaigns present fear

appeals to focus attention on negative consequences of a detrimental practice

rather than promoting the desirability of a positive alternative” (Atkin, 1989, p.

8). The bleeding billboard is an example to atkins statement as the billboard is

portraying the effects of how rain can affect driving conditions and the image

of the child is shown to portray the outcome if care isn’t taken. Atkins

discusses what attributes can come from the message sources and the effect

of using an image of a child in this advert creates all the attributes Atkins

discusses. For example the image of the child attracts attention, which then

heightens emotional arousal of the audience and increases retention due to

memorability due to the gruesome effect of the blood. The image of the child

used in this advert is effective as the issue is on the topic of driving however

children are not associated to driving yet the harm will be conflicted on them.

This approach is found in many cultures in regards to folk tales of children

Figure 8, (Insider, 2009)

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where it is suggested that ‘if you’re a bad child something bad will happen’. It

is like a play on children’s fairy tale of ‘good vs. evil’ in which it is displaying

something good against something harmful.

Hall discusses genre and states “they also draw on events and

discourses in the social world both as a source of topical story material and as

a means of commanding the recognition through their conformity to generic

verisimilitude” (Nixon, Hall, and Evans, 2013, p. 361) by using ideas and

objects that relate to children to target adults and parents is a means of

commanding public assent.

Buckingham discusses

how the media display an

ambivalent fascination with the idea of childhood. He argues “advertisement

display a similar ambivalence” (Buckingham, 2000, p. 4) he uses the Benetton

Ebony & Ivory advert as an example. This social awareness advert further

portrays how the media and audience’s notion on childhood is surrounded on

the idea of discomfort and uncertainty.

In reference to the ‘good vs. evil’ representation the advert (seen in

figure 9) is for United Colours of Benetton. This advert uses colour to portray

the contrasts of how colour effects how audiences perceive adverts. Although

lifestyle companies attempt to associate their products with progressive social

movements, Benneton’s adverts have become the embodiment of social

issues. For example in figure 9 the advert is entitled “Ebony & Ivory” and

shows a black and white child embracing one and other however the facial

Figure 9, Ebony & Ivory Bennoton of United Colours advert (Blickwink, 2012)

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expression portrayed through the white child is happy and angelic looking due

to the blonde hair blue eyes stereotype where as the black child has a blank

facial expression and her hair is shaped as devil horns. You can suggest this

advert plays on the idea of children’s fairy tale with the image of good vs. evil;

featuring children in adverts in reference to their image is used to create

immediate attention due to the controversy. The message this advert set out

to portray is the uniting effect of two races coming together as the title ‘Ebony

& Ivory” suggests however falls short due to the separating of colours through

facial expression and image play. The play on children’s fairy tale idea could

also be used as this advert is portraying the good vs. the evil this may create

the effect of stereotypical connotations in which the audience may perceive as

white being deemed as good and black deemed as evil.

Overall social advertising campaigns are often successful in raising

awareness’s however merit states, “they are often used in far too

indiscriminate a fashion to truly offer any sustained benefit” (Merritt, 2009, p.

24). Although we have set views on the ideologies of children and how society

portrays childhood you can argue social awareness campaigns regard

children as merely incompetent victims of exploitation. The focus on children

provides campaigners the power to use ideologies of children and play on the

representations through hard-hitting campaigns. By featuring children in these

social awareness adverts create moral panic overall which creates immediate

effect on the audience and attracts attention from the audience as the image

of a child is always made as an importance in society.

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CHAPTER 4

The uses of children in adverts have grown to become more acceptable

throughout the years this is due to how children are represented in todays era

where celebrity lifestyle and culture is more desired. This chapter aims to

explore how the celebrity world and lifestyle gives us a different perspective

on how the use of children in adverts have become more acceptable and

more of a norm in today’s society. Also this chapter will discuss how brand

building

Lindstrom argues in today’s society there is a new type of children as

she entitles her chapter “meet the kids”; she states, “This generation has been

tagged the ‘age of compression’. Almost every aspect of today’s tween-ager is

different from what we have seen amongst past generations” (Lindström et al.,

2003, p. 1). You can argue that celebrity children have now become a trend of

the 21st century. Gossip magazines and social media have created a sense of

normality of seeing children on the World Wide Web on a daily basis.

Examples such as North Kardashian and the Beckham family portray how

times have changed from celebrities hiding and shielding their children from

cameras and tabloid press to them using images taken from tabloid press to

further promote their image and brand on social media sites.

Figure 10 is a post from Kim Kardashian’s

Instagram using an image taken from

tabloids to further promote her brand.

(Kardashian, 2016)

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The uses of children in adverts and marketing strategies have become

a norm in today’s society. They can be deemed as new celebrities; you can

argue they are produced by modernity as the 21st century and has allowed for

children to gain a celebrity status without their being a moral or legal issue.

Martin Lindstrom discusses the three key ingredients common in successful

campaigns: Community exploration, peer-to-peer marketing and viral

marketing.

Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Victoria and David Beckham

have built a successful brand for themselves and the same ideology would be

applied to their children into building their own brand. The idea for the children

would be to build an image that changes with time but the effects remains the

same. A brand that can be inherited and evolves from one generation to the

next is the goal for PR and marketing companies. However how has the moral

issue of exploiting children to sell something evolved into a whole new way of

how we see children as a marketing strategy over the years?

Magazines such as ‘People’ continuously play on the celebrity culture

trends when writing articles and using celebrity children have become a new

trend to talk about which further promotes the child celebrity brand. An

example would be the royal baby; the royal baby is now a term coined when

referencing Prince Williams’s children George and Charlotte. Articles as such

are creating a story of a product and the product is the family brand. The royal

family brand and the Kardashian brand differ in most however the similarity

they have would be using the children to carry and further add to their brand

whilst also creating and building a brand for their children. For example in an

article of People magazine the front cover is of the royal family and the

headline reads ‘The Royal Fab Four: Our Lovely Little Family”. The children

are the new face of the family and are an investment into royal continuity of

the brand. Both articles (seen in figure 11 and 11.1) portray the children as

important roles in the article due to the how the children are placed around on

the front cover. The exposure of the child allows for marketers to create a

24

desirable imagery for other parent to want for their children

You can argue celebrities are characters in a perpetual ‘real life’ soap

opera that feeds our fascination with the famous. Magazine articles are the

production in which tells the story as “new ‘scenes’ that expand the on going

soap-like narratives that they construct out of celebrity lives” (Kosnik, Abigail,

and Lee, 2010, p. 239). The royal family are national treasures and are

adored worldwide, their lives have always been an interest and a on going

show for the audience and now that the prince and princess have been born

this has added another ‘plot’ which creates further interest that will keep the

audience wanting to know more. You can argue this has allowed for the royal

family to be permanent characters in the ‘celebrity soap opera’. Magazine

articles feeds the storyline of celebrity culture as seen in figure 11 and 11.1;

Peoples magazine sub heading states a “change in the royal family” that

makes you want to know more but also the storyline is kept open so the

audience are kept drawn and interested. “Soap operas are “immersive story

worlds’, referring to the fact that fans immerse themselves in a narrative

where the small and large moments in a characters life (all of their decisions,

all of their relationships, all of their personal crisis) can be interpreted and

retold in an endless variety of ways” (Kosnik, Abigail, and Lee, 2010, p. 240).

Fig 11. Peoples magazine article portraying the celebrity culture trend (Perry, 2015)

Fig 11.1, Peoples magazine (Perry and Jessen, 2015)

25

This overall enhances the desirability of the celebrity’s child’s life.

The novelty of prince George before and after he was born created

such a buzz that this created a brand in itself that this is seen as PR and

marketing gold which you can argue is why advertisers sees the appeal in

using children in adverts as this is known to create a reaction and attract a

wider audience.

It is suggested the royal family are seen as symbolic. Every parent

sees or thinks their child is either a prince or a princess in their eyes, which

therefore adds and creates commercial value of their brand. The photo of

Prince George and Queen Elizabeth stamp sheet photo shoot (seen in figure

12) was a topic trending on social media site Twitter. The image of Prince

George standing on blocks stacked together created a comical factor about

the child; by doing so allowed for the figure of prince child to become a viral

marketing tool (Lindstrom, 2004). By doing so allowed for the audiences to

talk about Prince George in topics that were relatable rather than seeing him

as a celerity child status; this makes the idea of Prince George more desirable

to the public.

Boorstin discusses a case in which he states that it “produced a spate

of new celebrities whose significance no one quite understood but whose

newsworthiness itself made him or her important” (Boorstin and Boorstin,

1997, p. 72). This is the case for all celebrity children. A brand that has been

Figure 12 is the photo taken for Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday (Elston, 2016)

26

able to develop a celebrity status for itself throughout the years is the

Kardashian brand. You can argue they are the epitome of self branding as

Kim Kardashian initially started off with a bad reputation to her brand however

her and the Kardashian family were able to remarket and rebrand themselves

into them becoming one of the biggest brand names in show business to date.

North West is the daughter of Kim and Kanye West; she became a celebrity

child instantly due to her mothers’ large following and reputation in the

industry. You can argue North West brand was produced by modernity due to

the production of how the child’s mothers status was first developed and is

maintained; for example Kim Kardashian has managed to retain their fame

through a series of highly calculated PR and social media moves that control

their own image. Kim even goes to state that “Social media allowed my career

to sustain, and I’ve adapted to the change of it all,” (Goode, 2014). This

argues the issue of modernity in today’s society, which has allowed for the

idea of children to be distorted in; in both positive and negative ways.

A brand that has used multiple platforms that has allowed for their

status to be inherited and evolve from one generation to the next would be

Victoria and David Beckham. The Beckham brand is one of Britain’s most

recognizable families and their children have added on to their fame. Romeo

Beckham is the perfect example of what Lindström would describe as a

“Tween” (Lindström et al., 2003); he is a leading example of how to further a

brand in a positive outlet. We have gone from parents complaining about the

effects of adverts and commercial TV has on children to parents who turn

their children into a brand. “Tween marketing is just as much about building a

solid base for the future as it is about creating an ongoing dialogue with an

audience that will in a few years, become their major source of revenue”

(Lindström et al., 2003, p. 14). This argues the debates of whether it is morally

or ethically acceptable to exploit children in brands and marketing in regards

of them sustaining a comfortable future.

27

The world of the celebrity lifestyle has given us a different perspective

on how it is more morally acceptable to use children in adverts and marketing

campaigns. The public, which are the celebrity fans, follow their lives and

everything about them so the fans of the celebrity will also want to follow the

life of their child as the child is famous by association. This is made

acceptable due to the up rise in digital media (social media) “this generation

being online is as comfortable as being offline” (Lindström et al., 2003, p. 3).

The fans know the child by association with the celeb which therefore gains

the celebrity further publicity without having to do much themselves.

Figure 13 is a Burberry Campaign featuring

Romeo Beckham. Burberry campaign has

been the biggest job for Romeo yet.

28

An example of this would be Kim Kardashian; she regularly brings her

daughter North to high profiled events such as Kanye Wests and Givenchy

fashion shows. By bringing North to fashion shows she is setting what may be

deemed as a new trend for celebrities in which they use their children as a

fashion “accessory”. It is as though the parents are creating miniature

versions of themselves. Kim is dressing north in similar outfits (seen in figure

14 and 14.1) as her in order to show the continuity of their brand. Figure 14

shows Kim Kardashians natural instincts as a parent to protect and shield her

innocent vulnerable child from the world whereas she is doing the complete

opposite by bringing the child to such events as you can argue by bringing the

child and wearing matching outfits will add on extra publicity and further

create a branding factor as seen in figure 14.1.

In figure 14 Kim, Kanye and North are all dressed in similar outfits,

which means this was planned beforehand possibly knowing that this would

make it into an article. However, in figure 4 You can also see the child is not

happy or amused to be in the environment at the time which indicates the idea

that the environment is probably not the most suitable for young children to be

at. This can argue the issue that using children in adverts or as a marketing

tool is not morally acceptable due to the uncomfortable expression on the

Figure14, Kim and North at the Givenchy fashion show. (Vulpo, 2014)

Figure 14.1 is a photo taken from magazine article portraying the names of celebrities and North West is put among the names of celebrities. (Fleming, 2015)

29

child’s face. This overall caused further headlines on North and Kim

Kardashian. These events can be deemed as a pseudo-event. Theorist

Boorstin created the term “pseudo-event”; he claimed that America was living

in an "age of contrivance," in which illusions and fabrications had become a

dominant force in society. Public life, he said, was filled with "pseudo-events" -

staged and scripted events that were a kind of counterfeit version of actual

happenings.

Boorstin stated that as an audience “we do not like to believe that our

admiration is focused on a largely synthetic product.” Therefore the audience

also appreciates events that are deemed more real and less focused on

empathy rather than ‘just’ celebrity gossip. One of the major headlines of 2015

was the story of Mark Zuckerberg, the Founder and CEO of Facebook, and

his wife Pricilla Chan will be donating 99% of their estimated $45 billion

dollars’ worth of Facebook stock shares to charity (BBC, 2015). The

inspiration for the act of kindness is their newly born daughter, Max; although

this article was created to headline the story of their daughter Max being born

the added topic of Mark donating 99% of their estimated worth to charity has

created further promotion to this story. Zuckerberg had found a strategic way

of combining both stories to create immense amount of publicity. In reference

to Lindstrom three key ingredients to successful campaigns this article applies

to the viral marketing strategy. You can argue Zuckerbergs child portrays to

society that the figure of a child in such an influential storyline can be looked

at in a morally acceptable standpoint.

Figure 15, photo of Mark Zuckerberg and family after revealing headline story. (BBC, 2015)

30

Boorstin states that a pseudo-event possesses characteristic with one

being “it is intended to be a self – fulfilling prophecy. In the case of Mark

Zuckerburg you can argue the article seen on figure 5 can be deemed to be

created to become a self- fulfilling prophecy due to the article no doubt being

a positive storyline for the family as they are using the media as a platform to

inform the world of their positive doing. However, this headline is also about

the birth of their daughter and the articles that will follow through will now

always be in connection with the child as she grows up. The child will now

always be associated with this article and what the shares they have given to

the world has benefited; even if the articles discuss how the shares of the

money was used have no correspondent to the child in the future the public

will always associate this moment and the topic with the child.

A chapter entitled ‘The peer factor’ investigates ways in which brands

can be built through peer-to- peer marketing. Lindstrom’s discusses viral

marketing techniques and he states, “tweens should be allowed to take

ownership of the brand by building and spreading it them-selves” (Lindström

et al., 2003, p. 139). This argument is a great example of how celebrity

children can be used as a marketing tool to build a brand that has been

enlisted upon them from birth due to their parent’s celebrity status. Celebrity

children representing themselves as a brand or marketing a brand is not

something that’s new however when it is done unintentionally this could be

deemed as a phenomenon. Celebrity children are now able to have articles

written solely about them. An example would be the Royal baby or North

Kardashian West. This shows how popular and in demand celebrity culture is

in terms of what the public wants to know about them which gives off the

impression that the child celebrity is a desirable one.

Overall this chapter portrays a different perspective of how the use of

children in adverts became acceptable. The parents whom are celebrities

have transitioned from the instinct of hiding and shielding their child to

allowing cameras and tabloids to market their child portrays the extreme jump

31

of attitudes. The ideology that we have gone from complaining about whether

it is morally and ethically wrong to use children in adverts to parents using

strategies to manipulate the audience in buying into their child’s brand

portrays how influential celebrity culture can be on the public.

“Children can no longer be exclude from these media and the things

they represent; nor can they be confined to material that adults perceive to be

good for them” (Buckingham, 2000, p. 16). In the celebrity world children use

to be deemed as sacred and hidden however due to how the 21st century has

developed with technology and being exposed to much more at a young age

the need to shield children has somewhat become a thing of the past. The

importance and value of keeping the ideology of children’s innocence and

image sacred is still an important factor however society has grown to accept

the celebrity culture and what comes with it and apply the rules to children as

well. Moral and legal issues have loosened up at the same time as social

norms have grown and changed. “The attempt to protect children by

restricting their access to media is doomed to fail” (Buckingham, 2000, p. 16).

The ideology of children has developed into an image of liberation and

desirability from audiences. The new digital era has allowed for children to go

from being consumers of media to playing a part in adding and consuming the

media as well. “We need to do more than bemoan the negative consequences

of children’s increasing experience of ‘adult’ life, or indeed than celebrating it

as a form of liberation” (Buckingham, 2000, p. 16)

32

CONCLUSION

It looks like the child is taking an active role in the advert, and is no longer

projected in the position of the passive consumer. However, the problem with

the ethical and legal concerns of showing children in adverts or even the idea

of exploiting their “faces” or “voices” for a commercial purpose seem to have

become more and more relaxed. The dissertation tried to show some of the

reasons behind our changing attitude towards the exploitation of children in

commercial advertisement. In a way, celebrity culture made the idea of the

child celebrity very desirable. With examples of Prince George and North

Kardashian West they portray how celebrity lifestyle has allowed for

audiences to accept how the figure of the child has changed in the 21st

century whilst also gaining a fan factor.

The dissertation shows that there is a close link between the use of

children in commercial adverts and social awareness campaigns. This paper

has explored the face and positioning of children in adverts and how they are

used in order to gain awareness of social and political issues but also how

they are used to flip the target audience from them and onto their parents.

The Haribo advert where the adults are seen eating the sweets in the

boardroom is portraying the message that adults to embrace their inner child.

The voices of children are used in replacement of the adult’s voice is playing

Figure 15, is a screenshot taken from the Haribo Starmix ‘Kids Voices’ advert. (UKHaribo, 2014)

33

on the Haribo slogan “Kids and grown-ups love it so, the happy world of

Haribo”. Instead of expressing the image of the child the advert is using the

body of adults and expressing the figure of the child through their voices.

CSPI state, ”children learn behaviors by imitating role models –

parents, teachers, peers, sibling, etc.., including role models they see on

television (Strasburger, 1999)” (CSPI, 2003, p. 35). The Haribo advert is

interesting as you see the roles of the adults and parents have been reversed

and they are being displaced in the position of the child. You can argue the

audiences are seeing the thoughts of the children however using the image of

adults allows for the advert to be morally and ethically acceptable but still

create the impact of using a child without actually seeing a child in the advert.

The future connection between children and advertising is never a sure

thing. The media market is constantly changing and developing and the fad of

using children in adverts can soon fade away. Beder discusses the

consequences of the corporate capture of childhood and states, “children are

being targeted as potential markets for products and services. As a

consequence, children are learning that happiness, relationships and

fulfillment can be attained through the right purchases and that others will

judge them by what they have rather than who they are.” (Beder, Varney, and

Gosden, 2009, p. 222). Losing the ideology of childhood could cause for a

variety of unsustainable issues in todays society. There are already debates

on the issue of children growing up too fast which will only construed the

norms of how children will grow up and live by what society deems as normal

in the 21st century.

Celebrity culture and lifestyle have created an invisible line between

the distinctions of childhood and adulthood. “There is a growing generation

gap in media use – that young people’s experience of new media

technologies is driving a wedge between their culture and that of their parents’

generation” (Buckingham, 2000, p. 4) This implies the social change of the

21st century could partly be the reason why the ideology of children and

childhood have changed audience’s perspectives and attitudes.

34

You can argue in some aspects children are being empowered as

explored in chapter 4. The development of new technologies has allowed for

children to be liberated in a sense where the ideology of children is celebrated

and embraced. “Children are increasingly gaining access to ‘adult’ media and

being empowered as consumers in their own right; yet the commercialization

and privatization of the media are also contributing to the growth of

inequalities” (Buckingham, 2000, p. 192). Yet still the issue of inequality and

morals plays an issue on todays society.

It is debatable as to whether children themselves can be seen to

benefit from such branding and adverts. As Schor argues that many adults

long to return to a time where children were sheltered and the ideology of

them are kept innocent however action needed will require ”widespread

grassroots activism” (Schor, 2004). Marketers and advertisers only aim is to

capture the hearts and attention of children and their success in doing so has

shown in recent times as Lindstrom states “It’s all about more information,

more entertainment more communication and more brands” (Lindström et al.,

2003, pp. 10 - 11). In order for the ideology of childhood to be kept the same

marketers needs to set them free.

“’Rather than one or another advert shaping how children behave, it is

the whole wider commercial world of celebrities, music and film that is far

more powerful” (Mayo and Nairn, 2009, p. 318). You can say it is marketers

and advertisers whom are the causes for loss of childhood however you can

argue the public and audiences have somehow helped to create the

representations of the commercial world in the 21st century and we have to

take some responsibility in the changing of attitudes towards the new outlook

we have on children.

35

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