The Evils of Advertising

She's not even 3 and TV advertising has already gotten ahold of my daughter. We try not to let her watch too much TV, and when she does, we try commercial-free, (somewhat) educational Noggin, or at least Nick, Jr. Well, commercials still creep in and take hold. We got her some Zoo Pals plates (they have animal faces on them) and at breakfast this morning when I gave her food on one, she walked away singing "Ribbit! Ribbit! Zoo Pals! Woof! Woof! Zoo Pals!" Which, if you're interested enough to follow the link above, you'll see that's right out of the commercial. Advertising is all about pushing the right buttons, even this early...there's even a subtle message in there to parents - one child, in his eagerness to "clear his plate" and "see their face" eats all his fruits and vegetables. What more could you ask for - mere plates that make children excited about eating vegetables. What will they think of next? I guess as she grows, she'll be getting all kinds of messages from everywhere; I guess I need to be in her life enough to counteract the messages she doesn't need to receive - I'm not going to be able to block them all.

I suppose it's time to go practice what I preach and save her from the clutches of Dora...


Begone evil Lady Bug!