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Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood
A shocking exposé of the $15 billion marketing maelstrom aimed at our children and how we can stop it.
With the intensity of the California gold rush, corporations are racing to stake their claim on the consumer group formerly known as children. What was once the purview of a handful of companies has escalated into a gargantuan enterprise estimated at over $15 billion annually. While parents busily try to set limits at home, marketing executives work day and night to undermine their efforts with irresistible messages.
In Consuming Kids, psychologist Susan Linn takes a comprehensive and unsparing look at the demographic advertisers call "the kid market," taking readers on a compelling and disconcerting journey through modern childhood as envisioned by commercial interests. Children are now the focus of a marketing maelstrom, targets for everything from minivans to M&M counting books. All aspects of children's lives — their health, education, creativity, and values — are at risk of being compromised by their status in the marketplace.
Interweaving real-life stories of marketing to children, child development theory, the latest research, and what marketing experts themselves say about their work, Consuming Kids reveals the magnitude of this problem and shows what can be done about it.
Susan Linn is an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director of the Media Center at Judge Baker Children's Center. She is also co-founder of the coalition Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter.
With the intensity of the California gold rush, corporations are racing to stake their claim on the consumer group formerly known as children. What was once the purview of a handful of companies has escalated into a gargantuan enterprise estimated at over $15 billion annually. While parents busily try to set limits at home, marketing executives work day and night to undermine their efforts with irresistible messages.
In Consuming Kids, psychologist Susan Linn takes a comprehensive and unsparing look at the demographic advertisers call "the kid market," taking readers on a compelling and disconcerting journey through modern childhood as envisioned by commercial interests. Children are now the focus of a marketing maelstrom, targets for everything from minivans to M&M counting books. All aspects of children's lives — their health, education, creativity, and values — are at risk of being compromised by their status in the marketplace.
Interweaving real-life stories of marketing to children, child development theory, the latest research, and what marketing experts themselves say about their work, Consuming Kids reveals the magnitude of this problem and shows what can be done about it.
Susan Linn is an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director of the Media Center at Judge Baker Children's Center. She is also co-founder of the coalition Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2004
11 people are currently reading
805 people want to read
About the author
Susan Linn
9 books29 followersSusan Linn is a psychologist, award-winning ventriloquist, and a world-renowned expert on creative play and the impact of media and commercial marketing on children. She was the Founding Director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (now called Fairplay) and is currently research associate at Boston Children’s Hospital and lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. The author of Consuming Kids, The Case for Make Believe, and Who’s Raising the Kids? (all published by The New Press), she lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
April 1, 2008
If I sound like an old-timey gospel hour preacher on this topic, it's because I am:
It makes me CRAZY to think of how many times a day that some marketing effort, in some form, crosses our path (and worse, that of our children.) This book makes a strong case for a parents (and extended family members and caregivers...) to become aware of (and work to counteract) the billions of dollars being spent to hijack the opinions and tastes and choices of our children. Read this to learn about the psychologists hired by corporations to identify the developmental vulnerabilities of whichever young demographic they're targeting for a specific product. That alone chills my blood. You can do better when you know better. Man, this gets me riled up!
It makes me CRAZY to think of how many times a day that some marketing effort, in some form, crosses our path (and worse, that of our children.) This book makes a strong case for a parents (and extended family members and caregivers...) to become aware of (and work to counteract) the billions of dollars being spent to hijack the opinions and tastes and choices of our children. Read this to learn about the psychologists hired by corporations to identify the developmental vulnerabilities of whichever young demographic they're targeting for a specific product. That alone chills my blood. You can do better when you know better. Man, this gets me riled up!
November 10, 2009
Last week, as I was digging around looking for something to read on the subway, I picked up a copy of Consuming Kids: Protecting Our Children from the Onslaught of Marketing & Advertising, a book by a Harvard psychologist that is substantially less priggish than its title makes it sound. Covered with blurbs by the likes of Marian Wright Edelman and T. Berry Brazelton, Susan Linn's book is a good study of marketing and children, as well as a conflicted, thus somewhat muddled, call to protect children from the pervasive influence of commercial content. Even when they aren't spending their time watching commercial TV (and even PBS seems pretty commercial these days) or playing at themed locations, they're playing with toys that represent media characters or learning to count by reading candy-themed books.
The first aim of the book, to show how marketers try to appeal to children by undermining their parents, is an eyebrow-raiser. Charged to sell products that pretty much no parent would ever want their child to have (hideously tacky toys, gleefully unhealthy foods), marketers design campaigns that give children ideas about to wear down the resistance of various different types of parents. (E.g. the parents who just want to be their child's friends, guilty working mothers, etc.) For these marketers, nagging is a wonderful tool. Linn writes about how children don't understand the difference between shows and commercials, which marketers have capitalized on since the deregulation of children's television by creating shows around their products. Even parents who strenuously attempt to limit their children's exposure to advertising find themselves undermined when their children return from a "field trip" to the Sports Authority with a bag full of promos and coupons. One chapter deals entirely with commercial influences in underfunded public schools.
Some of the most surprising and sad passages have to do with how media content undermines children's natural sense of play.
Many of Linn's examples are completely distasteful, from an adult's perspective. For example, the idea of green ketchup or chocolate french fries as "eatertainment" is hardly healthy--and surely eating is already pleasuarable in its own lo-fi way. The idea that toddlers need "lapware"--software to be used by a parent while they watch--in order to develop an interest in computers is totally laughable, yet parents are being sold all sorts of "educational" games and videos that have no proven effect other than to make their children zone out in front of a screen at an earlier age.
The conflicted feeling in Linn's writing comes from the fact that she is a political liberal; every time she agrees with soi-disant "pro-family" conservatives she finds the need to disavow any prudery, insisting that it's fine for children to learn about same-sex couples, just not by means of scantily-clad bisexual "lesbians" on WWE shows. Furthermore, she apparently recognizes (barely) that these issues lack bright lines that make legislation possible. What's left? A section at the end suggesting that readers boycott stores selling manifestly inappropriate materials, get involved with their PTA, and monitor what their kids watch at friends' houses, among other things. The end of the book is a demonstration that the path between awareness and action isn't smooth, particularly with issues that have at least partly to do with taste.
The first aim of the book, to show how marketers try to appeal to children by undermining their parents, is an eyebrow-raiser. Charged to sell products that pretty much no parent would ever want their child to have (hideously tacky toys, gleefully unhealthy foods), marketers design campaigns that give children ideas about to wear down the resistance of various different types of parents. (E.g. the parents who just want to be their child's friends, guilty working mothers, etc.) For these marketers, nagging is a wonderful tool. Linn writes about how children don't understand the difference between shows and commercials, which marketers have capitalized on since the deregulation of children's television by creating shows around their products. Even parents who strenuously attempt to limit their children's exposure to advertising find themselves undermined when their children return from a "field trip" to the Sports Authority with a bag full of promos and coupons. One chapter deals entirely with commercial influences in underfunded public schools.
Some of the most surprising and sad passages have to do with how media content undermines children's natural sense of play.
Annie pulls out a plastic container of dinosaurs. These come with plastic palm trees, rocks, and even a volcano. They also come with a plastic floor plan showing exactly where every tree and rock should go. I place a tree on an unmarked piece of land. "No, she says, moving it. "They have to go here." [...:] "These dinosaurs have to fight," she says. I begin making my dinosaur talk. "No!" she insists. "It's like the movie," she explains impatiently. "You know! They fight and they can't talk!" (71, snipped quite a bit)Instead of imagining their own world for the toys, children get stuck reenacting some adult's ideas. Linn refutes those who say that violent shows and games are all right for children because children's play can be violent and nasty by pointing out that children's games come from within them, from their own experiences and feelings, which is healthy--whereas watching some adult's violent fantasies isn't. Similarly she discusses how the invention of "tween" as a concept for children ages 6 to 12 (after marketers noticed how susceptible unsupervised latchkey kids were to advertising) has blurred what is and isn't acceptable for children of those ages. Barbie dolls were becoming popular only among preschoolers, so a competing company invented the Bratz, which look like sassy teenagers (actually, they look like those creepy Steve Madden ads), but end up being played with by eight-year-olds. Marketers think that an eight-year-old is almost a twelve-year-old who is almost an eighteen-year-old, but developmentally, that just isn't true.
Many of Linn's examples are completely distasteful, from an adult's perspective. For example, the idea of green ketchup or chocolate french fries as "eatertainment" is hardly healthy--and surely eating is already pleasuarable in its own lo-fi way. The idea that toddlers need "lapware"--software to be used by a parent while they watch--in order to develop an interest in computers is totally laughable, yet parents are being sold all sorts of "educational" games and videos that have no proven effect other than to make their children zone out in front of a screen at an earlier age.
The conflicted feeling in Linn's writing comes from the fact that she is a political liberal; every time she agrees with soi-disant "pro-family" conservatives she finds the need to disavow any prudery, insisting that it's fine for children to learn about same-sex couples, just not by means of scantily-clad bisexual "lesbians" on WWE shows. Furthermore, she apparently recognizes (barely) that these issues lack bright lines that make legislation possible. What's left? A section at the end suggesting that readers boycott stores selling manifestly inappropriate materials, get involved with their PTA, and monitor what their kids watch at friends' houses, among other things. The end of the book is a demonstration that the path between awareness and action isn't smooth, particularly with issues that have at least partly to do with taste.
December 20, 2009
Susan Linn's thesis in "Consuming Kids" seems to be: "If only we could bring those evil corporations and those evil Republicans to heel, your daughters wouldn't be dressing like skanks, racking up credit card debt, and eating nothing but frosted Pop Tarts for breakfast."
As a parent, I understand Susan Lin's concerns about consumerism and marketing to children. It's hard to be a true libertarian once you become a parent; no matter how much you believe in parental responsibility or personal responsibility, it is increasingly difficult to raise children in a world where they are regularly inundated with values that conflict with those you are trying to instill in them. That said, I think Linn exaggerates the power of corporations and minimizes the responsibility of parents. "A few giant corporations," she writes, "control much of what children eat, drink, wear, read, and play with each day." No. It is I who controls what my children eat, drink, wear, read, and play with each day. A free market gives me many more choices than a regulated one would. Yes, I have to fight a host of influences on my children; I have far more to say "no" to than parents of past generations, but I am still the one with the power to say "no." I am still the one who decides whether I will allow my daughter to wear a miniskirt with words printed across the butt or allow my son to eat Cookie Crisps instead of oatmeal most mornings or allow myself to buy my kids unnecessary toys with money I don't have. And when they are old enough to be free of our house's rules, my kids will be the ones who control what they eat, drink, wear, and play with each day.
Lack of regulation leads to a myriad of choices, both good and bad. And who is ultimately responsible when I make a bad choice instead of a good one? Me or corporations? Me or Republicans? Linn would much rather the government make the choice for me and save me the trouble.
Now, there is one place where I more deeply appreciate her concerns: in the schools. I don't like that my children will be subject to so much advertising and market research in the public schools. But if we cut that out, we have to be willing either to operate the school systems on less money and become more efficient providers of public education or suffer massive increases in property and other taxes.
As a parent, I understand Susan Lin's concerns about consumerism and marketing to children. It's hard to be a true libertarian once you become a parent; no matter how much you believe in parental responsibility or personal responsibility, it is increasingly difficult to raise children in a world where they are regularly inundated with values that conflict with those you are trying to instill in them. That said, I think Linn exaggerates the power of corporations and minimizes the responsibility of parents. "A few giant corporations," she writes, "control much of what children eat, drink, wear, read, and play with each day." No. It is I who controls what my children eat, drink, wear, read, and play with each day. A free market gives me many more choices than a regulated one would. Yes, I have to fight a host of influences on my children; I have far more to say "no" to than parents of past generations, but I am still the one with the power to say "no." I am still the one who decides whether I will allow my daughter to wear a miniskirt with words printed across the butt or allow my son to eat Cookie Crisps instead of oatmeal most mornings or allow myself to buy my kids unnecessary toys with money I don't have. And when they are old enough to be free of our house's rules, my kids will be the ones who control what they eat, drink, wear, and play with each day.
Lack of regulation leads to a myriad of choices, both good and bad. And who is ultimately responsible when I make a bad choice instead of a good one? Me or corporations? Me or Republicans? Linn would much rather the government make the choice for me and save me the trouble.
Now, there is one place where I more deeply appreciate her concerns: in the schools. I don't like that my children will be subject to so much advertising and market research in the public schools. But if we cut that out, we have to be willing either to operate the school systems on less money and become more efficient providers of public education or suffer massive increases in property and other taxes.
November 2, 2014
I went to listen to Susan Linn speak in person, she gave a great presentation showing first a home-made puppet - made from a purple sock with button eyes and a few strands of yarn hair. She asked the audience "what's the puppet's name?", "what is it?" and "what's it say?" Of course there were as many answers as there were people answering, depending on everybody's unique experiences, and ideas. Next she showed a mass produced horsey looking puppet and asked the same questions. This time answers were much more limited and uniform: it's a horse or a pony or a stallion, it says "Neigh!" or "Can I have an apple please". And finally she showed us Cookie Monster and we all knew the single correct answers.
This book covers all the insidious ways that marketing and corporateering are adversely affecting children: obesity, violence, sexualization, alcohol and tobacco, consumerism, et al. There's a history of legislation and "corporate control of media content as well as government control" that has led to the current mess. She then offers actual solutions for parents, the community, foundations, clergy members, and policy makers to put in place to achieve the ultimate goal - banning marketing to children altogether.
The appendix has a ton of organizations and websites that are super helpful today, even 8 years after this book was first published!
This book covers all the insidious ways that marketing and corporateering are adversely affecting children: obesity, violence, sexualization, alcohol and tobacco, consumerism, et al. There's a history of legislation and "corporate control of media content as well as government control" that has led to the current mess. She then offers actual solutions for parents, the community, foundations, clergy members, and policy makers to put in place to achieve the ultimate goal - banning marketing to children altogether.
The appendix has a ton of organizations and websites that are super helpful today, even 8 years after this book was first published!
March 25, 2012
This book was published in 2004, so I'm sure there's a lot that could be added to update it.
The author's tone in the beginning part of the book was, as other reviewers have said, somewhat annoying or melodramatic, in that it made me roll my eyes a bit. I don't know if it disappeared as I continued to read, if I got used to it, or if she presented me with enough evidence to find that tone justified...
The author suggests "limiting" TV and such. Well...yeah. I guess the average American household's television watching is through the roof or something, but as someone who was raised with hardly any television in their life, the easy answer for me is "kick the TV to the curb, that thing sucks your life away and is hardly if EVER beneficial!" I guess if you're used to television it seems like a hard thing to do, and if you're using your television as a parent, well, maybe it will be difficult. Parenting is kind of supposed to be difficult. I was just shocked that the extent the author went to was "turn the TV off during mealtimes." ?!?! Get rid of the damn thing completely! Nobody needs a television... I've spent maybe 5 years in my life total with a TV in the house, the most recently was maybe 4 years ago, and when I get around a TV these days, it's hard to even watch it, they seem ridiculous.
Anyway... the author brings up some very nauseating details of how the industry markets to children, and it would be shocking for a lot of people to know that this is going on in their homes.
The author's tone in the beginning part of the book was, as other reviewers have said, somewhat annoying or melodramatic, in that it made me roll my eyes a bit. I don't know if it disappeared as I continued to read, if I got used to it, or if she presented me with enough evidence to find that tone justified...
The author suggests "limiting" TV and such. Well...yeah. I guess the average American household's television watching is through the roof or something, but as someone who was raised with hardly any television in their life, the easy answer for me is "kick the TV to the curb, that thing sucks your life away and is hardly if EVER beneficial!" I guess if you're used to television it seems like a hard thing to do, and if you're using your television as a parent, well, maybe it will be difficult. Parenting is kind of supposed to be difficult. I was just shocked that the extent the author went to was "turn the TV off during mealtimes." ?!?! Get rid of the damn thing completely! Nobody needs a television... I've spent maybe 5 years in my life total with a TV in the house, the most recently was maybe 4 years ago, and when I get around a TV these days, it's hard to even watch it, they seem ridiculous.
Anyway... the author brings up some very nauseating details of how the industry markets to children, and it would be shocking for a lot of people to know that this is going on in their homes.
July 30, 2017
Perhaps overly alarmist, but I still think it's helpful for parents to read about how marketers think about and target children...especially if we're the only defense. It seems like the only real way to protect children is to not turn on the tv...
January 30, 2016
To some, children are the joy of our lives; a refreshing source of curiosity, energy, youth, and joy. To others, they are nothing but grist for the mill. In Consuming Kids, child psychologist Susan Linn reveals the scope and consequences of the increasing commercialization of childhood, which effects more than just parents. It is a profoundly disturbing book; were I a parent its revelations would horrify me. But it demands to be read.
Consuming Kids opens at a conference in which children are the focus -- or rather, the target, because this is a marketing conference, where the latest psychological insights into the minds of children are put to good use. "Teenagers are socially anxious; build on that." These marketeers are family scientists as well: they cite a study about the importance of the Nag Factor, wherein the 'pester power' of children is tapped to manipulate parents into taking the kids to a given restaurant or frequenting a particular store. (That same study featured in Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, and provoked my interest in this subject.) Linn is a psychologist by profession: she cares for children and is sickened by the way that studies done with good intentions -- to understand children's motivations -- are being perverted to use by companies which essentially profit by targeting vulnerabilities, like the aforementioned anxiety of teenagers or the fact that children cannot tell the difference between an advertisement and a factual program, let alone think critically about the content of said ads.
Linn devotes the bulk of the book to examining the consequences of child-targeting advertising: the promotion of consumerism among children, the idea that things will make them happy; the sinister way that they are conditioned to favor certain brands through cartoon figures and "role model" spokespersons like Ronald McDonald; the rise of childhood obesity amid the expansion of advertising of candy and processed food to kids; the use of violence and sex to capture attention; the rise of childhood addiction to alcohol and tobacco, and the corruption of the public sphere, from PBS to the schoolroom. (The latter section makes this work of interest to everyone, not just parents.)
I've read other works with a bone to pick with advertising of one kind or another, but I rarely enjoy them and never review them because prior reads have been so sloppily done; they consist mainly of one person idly complaining for paragraph after paragraph. This is certainly not the case with Linn, who tempers her passion with professionalism and focus. Her introduction immediately shares her sense of unease with the reader, and then she develops her many substantial criticisms. Hers is a convincing argument, not a rant, and it ends with impressive sections evaluating what our response should be. After examining advertising's relationship to free speech, she then points out that this is a particularly nonpartisan issue. It doesn't fit neatly into a party box: this kind of marketing has negative consequences for everyone save the firms targeting the kiddies. She then ends with a chapter detailing what we can do at home, in the community, in schools, in the marketplace, and as members of polities both large (the nation) and small (the city).
Consuming Kids is a magnificent piece of work; I would only fault it for being slightly dated with regards to references to advertising through the Internet and social media; most of Linn's concern is advertising through television and the schools. Otherwise, she's golden, offering a comprehensive criticism that is both passionate and moderate in tone. Highly recommended to parents and anyone concerned about the welfare of children and society.
Related:
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser
Consuming Kids opens at a conference in which children are the focus -- or rather, the target, because this is a marketing conference, where the latest psychological insights into the minds of children are put to good use. "Teenagers are socially anxious; build on that." These marketeers are family scientists as well: they cite a study about the importance of the Nag Factor, wherein the 'pester power' of children is tapped to manipulate parents into taking the kids to a given restaurant or frequenting a particular store. (That same study featured in Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, and provoked my interest in this subject.) Linn is a psychologist by profession: she cares for children and is sickened by the way that studies done with good intentions -- to understand children's motivations -- are being perverted to use by companies which essentially profit by targeting vulnerabilities, like the aforementioned anxiety of teenagers or the fact that children cannot tell the difference between an advertisement and a factual program, let alone think critically about the content of said ads.
Linn devotes the bulk of the book to examining the consequences of child-targeting advertising: the promotion of consumerism among children, the idea that things will make them happy; the sinister way that they are conditioned to favor certain brands through cartoon figures and "role model" spokespersons like Ronald McDonald; the rise of childhood obesity amid the expansion of advertising of candy and processed food to kids; the use of violence and sex to capture attention; the rise of childhood addiction to alcohol and tobacco, and the corruption of the public sphere, from PBS to the schoolroom. (The latter section makes this work of interest to everyone, not just parents.)
I've read other works with a bone to pick with advertising of one kind or another, but I rarely enjoy them and never review them because prior reads have been so sloppily done; they consist mainly of one person idly complaining for paragraph after paragraph. This is certainly not the case with Linn, who tempers her passion with professionalism and focus. Her introduction immediately shares her sense of unease with the reader, and then she develops her many substantial criticisms. Hers is a convincing argument, not a rant, and it ends with impressive sections evaluating what our response should be. After examining advertising's relationship to free speech, she then points out that this is a particularly nonpartisan issue. It doesn't fit neatly into a party box: this kind of marketing has negative consequences for everyone save the firms targeting the kiddies. She then ends with a chapter detailing what we can do at home, in the community, in schools, in the marketplace, and as members of polities both large (the nation) and small (the city).
Consuming Kids is a magnificent piece of work; I would only fault it for being slightly dated with regards to references to advertising through the Internet and social media; most of Linn's concern is advertising through television and the schools. Otherwise, she's golden, offering a comprehensive criticism that is both passionate and moderate in tone. Highly recommended to parents and anyone concerned about the welfare of children and society.
Related:
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser
September 2, 2008
No, it's not an hors d'oeuvre cookbook for cannibals. Consuming Kids is a book about the multi-bajillion dollar industry of marketing all kinds of things --clothes, hair care, food, violence, lifestyles-- to kids and teens. Now that my own daughter is old enough that I'm reasonably sure she's not going to die of SIDS or get carried off by a hyena, I'm starting to worry about these things.
While Consuming Kids deals with an inherantly interesting, even sensational topic, the presentation is actually pretty tame and almost academic. The author, Susan Linn, devotes each chapter to a specific topic like violence, food, smokes and alcohol, marketing in school, and so on, always dealing with how marketers try to get at kids and the parents who control their money. While I appreciate her restraint and thoughtful presentation of the topics, Linn could have punched things up a little with more narratives and more entertaining descriptions of the situations and absurdities inherent in treating children like little adult consumers. The most entertaining and snappy chapter of the book is the first one, where Linn describes her experiences infiltrating a conference for marketers specializing in children. The rest of the book kind of bogs down in statistics and dry expositions that probably belie the author's true outrage.
Still, if you read through them, all those statistics and expositions are convicing and thought provoking. I found myself periodically looking up from this book to reflect on my own experiences being marketed to and what I plan on doing to insulate Samantha from it. In short, I came away from reading this book with some solid and well defined intentions that I've already started putting into place. Things like limiting television time and content (thank God for TiVo, which lets you skip commercials), limiting brands and movie/TV tie-ins when possible (this means you, Elmo), and even resolving to make our house soda-free to set a good example.
In a way, this kind of sucks. For example, I was just talking with someone the other day about how much I'd like to show Samantha classic Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White --movies that are really magnificent in terms of film making and animation. I also want to take Sam to Disney World, which is within driving distance for us and which I think she'll soon be old enough to enjoy. The problem is that I fear unleashing the marketing juggernaut that Disney has linked to all these classics. I want to watch Alladin with my daughter, but I don't want her to throw a screaming hissy fit when I won't buy her ten thousand and one pieces of Disney Princesses junk.
Parenting is just going to get harder, I know. Baby-snatching hyenas I can deal with; nobody's spending billions of dollars a year to convince Sam that she needs to be dragged off by carrion eaters. Fatty foods, alcohol, and skank-tastic clothes for pre-teens? That's another story, one that's told pretty convincingly in this book.
While Consuming Kids deals with an inherantly interesting, even sensational topic, the presentation is actually pretty tame and almost academic. The author, Susan Linn, devotes each chapter to a specific topic like violence, food, smokes and alcohol, marketing in school, and so on, always dealing with how marketers try to get at kids and the parents who control their money. While I appreciate her restraint and thoughtful presentation of the topics, Linn could have punched things up a little with more narratives and more entertaining descriptions of the situations and absurdities inherent in treating children like little adult consumers. The most entertaining and snappy chapter of the book is the first one, where Linn describes her experiences infiltrating a conference for marketers specializing in children. The rest of the book kind of bogs down in statistics and dry expositions that probably belie the author's true outrage.
Still, if you read through them, all those statistics and expositions are convicing and thought provoking. I found myself periodically looking up from this book to reflect on my own experiences being marketed to and what I plan on doing to insulate Samantha from it. In short, I came away from reading this book with some solid and well defined intentions that I've already started putting into place. Things like limiting television time and content (thank God for TiVo, which lets you skip commercials), limiting brands and movie/TV tie-ins when possible (this means you, Elmo), and even resolving to make our house soda-free to set a good example.
In a way, this kind of sucks. For example, I was just talking with someone the other day about how much I'd like to show Samantha classic Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White --movies that are really magnificent in terms of film making and animation. I also want to take Sam to Disney World, which is within driving distance for us and which I think she'll soon be old enough to enjoy. The problem is that I fear unleashing the marketing juggernaut that Disney has linked to all these classics. I want to watch Alladin with my daughter, but I don't want her to throw a screaming hissy fit when I won't buy her ten thousand and one pieces of Disney Princesses junk.
Parenting is just going to get harder, I know. Baby-snatching hyenas I can deal with; nobody's spending billions of dollars a year to convince Sam that she needs to be dragged off by carrion eaters. Fatty foods, alcohol, and skank-tastic clothes for pre-teens? That's another story, one that's told pretty convincingly in this book.
July 7, 2011
I've had conversations with multiple acquaintances about marketing to children, and a lot of the people I've talked to seem to begin and end their side of the argument with, "If you don't like advertisers marketing to your kids, then turn off the TV." This book is a good explanation of why it's not that simple.
I've read a little bit on this subject in the past, so some of the information Linn presents was not new to me, but what really struck me about this book was her evidence for how deliberate the marketing industry is. Two things I found particularly startling were 1) how much marketing goes on in schools, and how difficult it is for struggling schools to turn down that extra revenue -- corporations are really taking advantage of cash-strapped schools; and 2) how much research corporations are conducting in child psychology -- all for the purpose of exploiting what they learn about our children in order to more effectively sell their products.
Corporations spend billions of dollars to influence our children and undermine our authority as parents, because it works. It's profitable. Linn details why this is so harmful for our children, and how ubiquitous it is in spite of the negative effects that have been documented. As a parent, it's kind of scary to think about having to stand between your child and that relentless stream of advertising, but luckily Linn's book offers a few suggestions for parents, as well as educators and lawmakers. Turning off the TV is a good start, but there's a lot more to it than that.
I've read a little bit on this subject in the past, so some of the information Linn presents was not new to me, but what really struck me about this book was her evidence for how deliberate the marketing industry is. Two things I found particularly startling were 1) how much marketing goes on in schools, and how difficult it is for struggling schools to turn down that extra revenue -- corporations are really taking advantage of cash-strapped schools; and 2) how much research corporations are conducting in child psychology -- all for the purpose of exploiting what they learn about our children in order to more effectively sell their products.
Corporations spend billions of dollars to influence our children and undermine our authority as parents, because it works. It's profitable. Linn details why this is so harmful for our children, and how ubiquitous it is in spite of the negative effects that have been documented. As a parent, it's kind of scary to think about having to stand between your child and that relentless stream of advertising, but luckily Linn's book offers a few suggestions for parents, as well as educators and lawmakers. Turning off the TV is a good start, but there's a lot more to it than that.
January 6, 2011
This book is an intriguing look into the effects of marketing on children. Susan Linn make a solid case for a ban on marketing to young children and she does a great job of explaining why putting all the blame on parents is disingenuous.
The book can be a bit dry and repetitious at times. And, Linn's constant expressions of surprise at the lengths to which marketing firms will go to target children seem rather silly. I can't imagine anyone, particularly a child psychologist, living in today's world finding these things *that* shocking.
Most of the book is Linn setting up her case back by a significant amount of research. At the end of the book she does offer some good suggestions for how various members of our society can take action. However, I did find her constant need to differentiate herself from right-wing conservatives who are also concerned about this issue to be off-putting. I understand why she wants to distance herself from a movement that probably has few other causes in common with her own, but I think saying it once would have been sufficient. There was no need to keep repeating it over and over.
Overall, it was an informative, well-researched book and I would definitely recommend it to parents and anyone who works with or cares about our society's children.
The book can be a bit dry and repetitious at times. And, Linn's constant expressions of surprise at the lengths to which marketing firms will go to target children seem rather silly. I can't imagine anyone, particularly a child psychologist, living in today's world finding these things *that* shocking.
Most of the book is Linn setting up her case back by a significant amount of research. At the end of the book she does offer some good suggestions for how various members of our society can take action. However, I did find her constant need to differentiate herself from right-wing conservatives who are also concerned about this issue to be off-putting. I understand why she wants to distance herself from a movement that probably has few other causes in common with her own, but I think saying it once would have been sufficient. There was no need to keep repeating it over and over.
Overall, it was an informative, well-researched book and I would definitely recommend it to parents and anyone who works with or cares about our society's children.
July 19, 2007
this is a powerful book!
it is a bit over-the-top at times, and tends to the melodramatic, but at the same time, the issues really are so grand and appalling, that you can't fault the author for it.
i also really wish she considered going "no-TV" or "no-media" as one of her solutions - i feel it's overlooked and yet totally obvious - like and elephant in the closet...
it is a bit over-the-top at times, and tends to the melodramatic, but at the same time, the issues really are so grand and appalling, that you can't fault the author for it.
i also really wish she considered going "no-TV" or "no-media" as one of her solutions - i feel it's overlooked and yet totally obvious - like and elephant in the closet...
February 12, 2008
I ended up skimming this... I felt lectured in a kind of negative way. While I agree with the premise and I resent all the relentless marketing aimed at kids. I even hate the characters on the diapers, but I also felt like it some of the information was skewed, using marketing lines to argue content, kind of cheesy.
August 1, 2010
So this has become another big interest of mine: marketing, targeted to children (particularly in schools) to create crib to coffin brand loyalty. Yuck. I realize that I risk becoming the "weird mom" by reading and exploring some of these issues, but I welcome the weirdness! :)
As I told Vanessa at the store the other day, " dora belongs on TV (I guess), not on your yogurt or crackers."
As I told Vanessa at the store the other day, " dora belongs on TV (I guess), not on your yogurt or crackers."
May 29, 2012
A must read for parents and caregivers. This book provides some insight into the devious ways marketers hook children and strain family relationships.
This is an interesting read. I would have liked more recommendations on how to speak to children about advertising and steer them away from consumerism. I understand the problem, now give me tools to deal with it.
This is an interesting read. I would have liked more recommendations on how to speak to children about advertising and steer them away from consumerism. I understand the problem, now give me tools to deal with it.
May 17, 2019
This book screams "sanctimommy." The author's level of pretentiousness is absolutely unparalleled. From a parenting standpoint, the concerns are valid ones, but at the same time, the over exaggeration and faux outrage of this woman just makes you think that she's as bad as the concepts she's writing about - she becomes so ridiculous that she has become a part of the problem. Her approach to problem resolution is equal to removing choices for individuals, which is ultimately no solution at all.
June 6, 2025
As someone who rarely ever reads non-fiction, I thought this was fine. The information was super captivating and interesting, but so much has changed in the 20 years since this books release that I wonder how much has changed. Linn incorporates her personal opinion into every aspect of the book, which is fine, but if you are looking for a more objective take this might now be what you are looking for. 2.5/5
November 22, 2025
I think it’s always good to be thinking about media effects and the ways in which companies or ads change how we think and act, but the views in this book are pretty extreme and the arguments feel like a reach. Good food for thought and I definitely agree on most of it, but in my opinion, it throws out the individual’s responsibility a little too much.
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September 24, 2023DNF - this book was written in 2004 & it shows. The premise is interesting, but marketing to children has changed so much since then (kids used to watch tv commercials & now we have social media). This one fact dated the book severely & made me put it down.
December 31, 2017
Good, but very dated
October 9, 2008
This book took me quite a while to get through, partly because I didn't have much time to read in general, partly because it was the designated book I carry in my bag at all times (hence expecting to read it in little chunks), and partly just because it was really dense. I really liked a lot of what Linn had to say on the subject of advertising to children, but boy did she seem to say a lot. I felt that some of the material was repetitive or only slightly altered to say much of the same thing. Also, I should point out that this book is extremely NOT relevant to me - I don't have any children, and thus I guess I was more interested in the advertising side, and what is done to manipulate the minds of children (and people in general), a subject that has always fascinated me. I do live with a two-year-old, however, and I found myself wanting to become more engaged in keeping her focused on creative activities rather than the television, over the course of reading this book. I think it's informative & helpful in getting discussions and possibly even action started; I just don't know how (or if) it's going to immediately affect me. I do imagine it's a book that I'll come back to years from now in bits & pieces, as I either rear my own children (hah - not planning on it) or am more involved in the lives of others' children. I did find it interesting to compare my own childhood and how we were encouraged always to be creative - but at the same time, my sister and I did come home from school and watch Duck Tales and Tail Spin (was that the name of it?) every weekday. However, I do NOT remember commercials from that time, which seems odd to me. And I recall very few times when I felt the need to purchase something because it was advertised onscreen. That may have been due to the fact that we did not generally go grocery shopping with our mother, though, and all purchases she made had to go on a list - so it would make sense that she wouldn't go and buy us Fruity Pebbles, haha. And there is only one instance that I can recall wanting something I saw advertised - a Kid Sister doll! - but I do believe that was before the regular TV-watching days, so I'm not sure where that came from. Hmm. This has devolved into an examination of my own childhood, my apologies. Clearly, this book did get me thinking on a lot of things, though - and I do have to say, I loved how Linn pointed out that this isn't just an issue for parents to be concerned about. Creating passive and instant-gratification-now children means they grow up to become adults with the same values & mindsets, and that is terrifying for the future of our democracy. So, I do plan to do whatever I can, encouraged by Ms. Linn, to help with the cause of keeping marketing away from kids in as many ways as possible.
June 8, 2009
I read a lot of parenting books but if I could choose just one book for every parent in America to read, it would be this one.
Marketing to kids is at the root of pretty much all that is wrong with childhood: obesity, precocious sexuality, violence, disrespect for parents and authority, constantly staring at TV and computer screens rather than engaging in healthy and creative play. I could go on and on.
Honestly, when I first encountered Linn's strong feelings about marketing to kids, I was like, "What's the big deal?" Like many others, my initial response was that it's ultimately up to parents to monitor what media their children consume and what purchases their children make. And that's true--it is ultimately a parent's responsibility. But in the film "Consuming Kids", Enola Aird (founder and director of the Motherhood Project) made what I consider to be a very appropriate analogy: What if the director of a fleet of trucks announced that from now on all his semis would be hauling down the street at 100 mph, especially streets where children often are, and just told parents to watch their kids and keep them safe? We wouldn't tolerate that. We would argue that the drivers also have a responsibility to drive safely, particularly where children are concerned. But that is essentially what is going on with marketing to kids. When we say it is solely the parents' responsibility, we are giving marketers the authority to barrel down our streets with no regard for the well-being of their little marketing targets.
Everyone has a responsibility to protect kids, including marketers and policy makers. Living in a democracy does not mean we live in a free-for-all society where anyone can just do anything they want. We still have a responsibility to promote the common good, and that is what Susan Linn and her Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood are doing.
Marketing to kids is at the root of pretty much all that is wrong with childhood: obesity, precocious sexuality, violence, disrespect for parents and authority, constantly staring at TV and computer screens rather than engaging in healthy and creative play. I could go on and on.
Honestly, when I first encountered Linn's strong feelings about marketing to kids, I was like, "What's the big deal?" Like many others, my initial response was that it's ultimately up to parents to monitor what media their children consume and what purchases their children make. And that's true--it is ultimately a parent's responsibility. But in the film "Consuming Kids", Enola Aird (founder and director of the Motherhood Project) made what I consider to be a very appropriate analogy: What if the director of a fleet of trucks announced that from now on all his semis would be hauling down the street at 100 mph, especially streets where children often are, and just told parents to watch their kids and keep them safe? We wouldn't tolerate that. We would argue that the drivers also have a responsibility to drive safely, particularly where children are concerned. But that is essentially what is going on with marketing to kids. When we say it is solely the parents' responsibility, we are giving marketers the authority to barrel down our streets with no regard for the well-being of their little marketing targets.
Everyone has a responsibility to protect kids, including marketers and policy makers. Living in a democracy does not mean we live in a free-for-all society where anyone can just do anything they want. We still have a responsibility to promote the common good, and that is what Susan Linn and her Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood are doing.
August 31, 2012
I've technically read the first addition which isn't listed here, so I had to choose this addition, disclaimer noted and delivered.
An expose on the marketing/advertising theology that views our children as consumers rather than human beings. As a child psychologist, Linn exposes the ruthless assault on children via marketing/advertising both in our homes and through our educations systems. Linn builds a convincing case by using a marketing campaign as an example, quoting spokespeople from that company, and then explaining why from a clinical perspective the campaign is harmful.
Parents are fighting an uphill battle against a multi billion dollar industry ~ an industry that cares not for your child's well being, overestimates their development, and actually "trains" them to fight against you. Nice. Her work is well cited, researched, and patiently presented. There is a documentary film version of Consuming Kids and I highly recommend it as well.
The back section of the book features resources for readers who wish to pursue further action.
Well written and easy to follow.
An expose on the marketing/advertising theology that views our children as consumers rather than human beings. As a child psychologist, Linn exposes the ruthless assault on children via marketing/advertising both in our homes and through our educations systems. Linn builds a convincing case by using a marketing campaign as an example, quoting spokespeople from that company, and then explaining why from a clinical perspective the campaign is harmful.
Parents are fighting an uphill battle against a multi billion dollar industry ~ an industry that cares not for your child's well being, overestimates their development, and actually "trains" them to fight against you. Nice. Her work is well cited, researched, and patiently presented. There is a documentary film version of Consuming Kids and I highly recommend it as well.
The back section of the book features resources for readers who wish to pursue further action.
Well written and easy to follow.
April 19, 2013
Anyone who has kids (or may have kids, or knows anyone with kids) should read this book. I read it as an in-depth treatise on the morality and social and ethical responsibility of marketing...anything...to children.
The long-term damage done to young people (who grow up to be old people, like me) by getting them hooked on unhealthy food, alcohol, cigarettes is shocking. Hooking them on unnecessary consumerism is sickening and convincing young girls that they need to diet and be sexy and young boys that drinking attracts women and violence is a solution to problems is, well, disturbing.
Before reading this book I would have told you that I believe marketing to children was a free speech issue it's just the world we live in and those cute frogs didn't result in four-year olds being more likely to drink beer when they were seventeen. I'm not so sure anymore.
The book closes with a plea to change the game: make marketing to children illegal. It's not as extreme as it seems. Read the book and find out why.
The long-term damage done to young people (who grow up to be old people, like me) by getting them hooked on unhealthy food, alcohol, cigarettes is shocking. Hooking them on unnecessary consumerism is sickening and convincing young girls that they need to diet and be sexy and young boys that drinking attracts women and violence is a solution to problems is, well, disturbing.
Before reading this book I would have told you that I believe marketing to children was a free speech issue it's just the world we live in and those cute frogs didn't result in four-year olds being more likely to drink beer when they were seventeen. I'm not so sure anymore.
The book closes with a plea to change the game: make marketing to children illegal. It's not as extreme as it seems. Read the book and find out why.
June 30, 2009
This book is naturally a very informative book. So it was dull at times with all the quoted studies, research and such. I am generally against the advertising to children so this book was more of affirm my thinking than challenge it. At times I felt the author focused too hard on a particular negative marketer. She really hates WWE, and while I am no fan of the show, I grew tired of tirade against it. At other times had things I enjoy attacked for their marketing efforts toward children. It certainly made me wonder what all my children are taking in and what they are filtering out. But the most impressive thing to me about the book is that the author has a section at the end discussing what parents can do. So it wasn't just a complaint book, but a call to action as well, at least a call to defense.
August 14, 2008
I can't state this strongly enough: THIS IS A MUST READ by EVERY PARENT and person who works closely with children.
An honest and even disquieting look at how our children are being actively pursued by media vultures looking only for the profit, who have no interest in the development of our future generations. It's more than just turning our children into healthy little capitalists; it's more like a battle for their minds, bodies, hearts, and even their very souls against the astronomically well funded advertising and media groups. Rife with statistics and studies, Linn takes us deep into the greed that is reaching with gory talons for our kids.
It makes one realize what effects exposure to all the marketing really has on the lives of our children.
An honest and even disquieting look at how our children are being actively pursued by media vultures looking only for the profit, who have no interest in the development of our future generations. It's more than just turning our children into healthy little capitalists; it's more like a battle for their minds, bodies, hearts, and even their very souls against the astronomically well funded advertising and media groups. Rife with statistics and studies, Linn takes us deep into the greed that is reaching with gory talons for our kids.
It makes one realize what effects exposure to all the marketing really has on the lives of our children.
March 6, 2009
This is an absolutely fascinating book about marketing and advertising geared to kids. Everytime I see a commercial geared toward kids it really catches my eye. The ones that get me are the tie-ins with the fast food places and toys for movies, such as McDonald's and Chicken Little right now. Another are the toys for little kids that are obviously geared to parents, one of the keywords that sticks out for me is "learning." Every toy seems to be a learning toy so that your kid can get ahead at the ripe old age of 1 year. Since when do toys that are flashing and talking learning toys? And do kids really need to be so overstimulated at such a young age?
A fascinating read whether you're a parent or not.
A fascinating read whether you're a parent or not.
March 28, 2008
I definitely agree with the premise of the book--that advertising to kids has gone way too far and is raising a generation of materialistic, unimaginative children--but I'm finding the whole thing a little less shocking than I thought it would be. It doesn't have the impact of Fast Food Nation, which was chock full of horrifying details that I'd never heard before and made me stop eating fast food forever (except my beloved Subway).
I already knew that kids are assaulted daily with advertisements involving sex, violence, candy, and Elmo tie-in products. Also, the author seems to have a real problem with purple ketchup, which I don't think is really that evil.
I already knew that kids are assaulted daily with advertisements involving sex, violence, candy, and Elmo tie-in products. Also, the author seems to have a real problem with purple ketchup, which I don't think is really that evil.
February 3, 2011
I have a love/hate relationship with this book. As I read through each chapter, I kept thinking "noooo ... this can't be possible!," but my marketing background kept leading me to the conclusion that yes, it is possible and the things the author discusses are happening. right. now. My only complaint, if you can call it that, is that the data in the book is outdated. It was published in 2004 and I hope either the original author or one of her peers updates it and republishes. I highly recommend this book to book clubs, as there's a lot of great information in it and I feel it would be highly beneficial to discuss it with other like-minded individuals.
December 30, 2007
So far it's interesting. I find her a bit "sky is falling" in her writing. Rendering parents unable to do anything about marketing to kids b/c they aren't to blame. I'm sure it gets better, I'm about halfway through. I have to wonder though how parents aren't to blame if there kids can recognize brands as soon as they can speak.
Update I spoke too soon. The rest of the book is really good. Explaining various things in terms of how a child would view it. The education as done by corporations part is scary enough and makes it worth reading for parents to be aware of what's out there.
Update I spoke too soon. The rest of the book is really good. Explaining various things in terms of how a child would view it. The education as done by corporations part is scary enough and makes it worth reading for parents to be aware of what's out there.
August 5, 2011
I would've really liked it, or perhaps loved it, as the heart of the story is that our culture's kids are being exploited. However, the author goes into great detail with concepts that we already know (e.g., cereal advertising is inconspiciously placed in movies, television shows contain an inordinant amount of junk food advertising, etc.), and she does it in a fashion that can be construed as overdramatic. Finally, her points could've been covered in half of the book size.
Overall, good book, good message, and makes one think when "consuming" our media.
Overall, good book, good message, and makes one think when "consuming" our media.
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