But it is a losing battle! I hate the mentality of placing all the responsibility to fight off this manipulation on one person (or two): the parents. These commercials are created by people who studied psychology and the manipulation of rats among many, many other subjects for many, many years and these are people who invest millions -- no billions -- in figuring out how to manipulate us, especially our kids, especially how to get around us (we parents who are as you suggest owning up to the responsibility) and get directly at our kids.

I am so frustrated with the broad application of "personal responsibilty," as if the playing field is even. It's rigged against the individual and these studies dig down and show that.

Just as you have said in previous posts, TV is practically indispensible in just getting through pre-dinner time. But the commericals aimed at kids are just so well-done and effective (for selling the product, not for the parent or child's well-being).

Some countries ban advertisements aimed at those under a certain age. I am sooooo personally responsible for being on board with that one.

What we need are commercials that tell kids how great fruits and especially vegetables are.  Yeah, that will show those fast food places.

"I have decided to blame Taco Bell commercials for my fat ass."

I'm sitting at work, laughing aloud like a complete idiot.

Lena, as someone who writes commercials for a living (you can lynch me later) I can assure you that my psychology studies ended with Psych 101 freshman year, and I don't know anything about manipulating rats, whatever that means. Although I'm flattered that you give us all so much credit.

Mostly creative teams approach a project like, "hey..this would be a funny thing to do in 30 seconds right? I could win an award for that, right?" and that's pretty much what ends up on air.

Here's my thinking as a parent: Don't give your kid twice the portions and they won't eat twice the amount. Don't give them a Big Mac and they can't eat a Big Mac. Don't watch commercial tv and they can't ask for what's in the commercials.

Sarah nailed it with this one.

Sorry, mom101, but you're wrong too. Well, not wrong, but not totally right. You write the commericals but they have to meet specific criteria. On up the food chain at your agency, they know what's going on. You're not writing commericals in a vacuum, just making fun stuff to watch, you're getting your clients' potential customers to identify with the clients brand. You're guiding the clients' target audience to interact with the brand, to not just want the brand but need it. HOw do you do that with little kids? You -- well, not you, you're just creating the commercial, all the work has already been done -- the client does market research, the innovators in advertising and brand management and branding do market research, play with the rats, figure out what gets emotional responses -- colors, sounds, scenes, faces -- and that all trickles down to you and your creative team.

I know, I did it. I'm not saying you should be lynched, mom101. I'm saying you (and Sarah, who you agreed with and I still disagree with) shouldn't look to "personal responsiblity" as an adequate antidote to big media messages and certainly not layer it on to parents who are purposfully being circumvented in ad and brand messages aimed at children. Because mom101, you and your agency and your clients marketing groups are good, really, really good, at what you do.

Oh, and on not watching commerical TV, we don't. But thanks to Seseme Street my girls recognize Chuck E. Cheese, McDonald's, Juicy Juice, even First 5 LA (and that's not even a corporation, it's a nice do-good non-profit, I'm just saying ...) Ads aren't just on TV either ... brand marketers know exactly how to get around commerical TV eschewers too! My personal responsibility only goes so far!

I love it when my daughter argues that Lucky Charms is fortified with vitamins, even though she knows that I will not buy cereal that is chocolate or has marshmallows.  If you don't want your kid to eat junk then don't buy it!

I don't know ... the whole idea that we can only act on behalf of our own children and not recognize the larger interest of society really gets on my nerves. That's great for your kids (mine too ... well, maybe not Sarah's with respect to her Taco Bell gluttony) but I always wonder if there's something that can be done for kids who don't have the benefit of media saavy parents.

Another study giving fodder to the fire on personal and parenting abdication of responsibility.

I have 3 boys who would eat exactly what the "Guy on TV says is good" if I were an IDIOT!

I try (nobody is perfect) to feed my kids some sort of healthy meals, and the junk foods are the exception, not the rule. I have one son who is too heavy, and guess the difference in his diet. He is the only one who faithfully buys school lunches! The other two would prefer to take a lunch, in which they get sandwich and a piece of fruit.

YOU are the parent. If they don't like the menu, they will not starve. They'll eat when they get hungry enough. Call me mean, cruel, whatever, but...my kids eat pretty much any food you serve them.

Know Fear.......Have Twins

OldParrothead

Lena, I wonder if I can get kids to eat rats.

Now that would REALLY be an example of my marketing prowess.

With the release of a new study linking fathers' parenting styles to childhood obesity it has become