Article Review: Kid Power by Kelly and Kulman

The article chosen for review is “Kid Power” by Katy Kelly and Linda Kulman, U.S. News & World Report. It was posted on September 5, 2004. The article discusses the psychology and marketing that is accomplished by major companies. Advertising companies spend over $15 billion a year telling kids what is hot and what they need to buy. Kids are surrounded with carefully researched messages and marketing telling them what to do. The parenting style has become more flexible and less authoritarian in the last 25 years. All this tiny consumers in United States will recognize logos at the age of 18 months and by 2 children will ask products by brand name. It should be noted that a child will watch 40,000 commercials every year and some parents reported that the baby’s first words was not “mama” or “dada” but “Coke”. United States with only 4.5 percent of the population buys 45 percent of the global toy production. American kids will get an average of 70 new toys a year. Kids will influence the family decision buying power of parent by 670 billion worth of purchases, small items such as which snacks to buy and large items as a SUV for the family trips with the kids. If we compare the military budget in United States is 418 billion, much smaller than the kids buying power. There is a strong opposition to this barrage of advertising by many fronts. That is why marketers count on kids to nag parents to the point of purchase. The American Psychological Association added its voice to that of the American Academy of Pediatrics is reporting that advertising is directed toward children and is deceptive and exploits children under age 8. Also, the APA says that before the age of 4 or 5, kids can not distinguish between a show and a commercial. In the future most likely we will see legislation to curve the limit on advertising to