Customer Reviews

Consuming Kids: Protecting Our Children from the Onslaught of Marketing & Advertising

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book has really helped us to open our eyes and look at our current culture and how it might impact our new son. It covers media and mass marketing and how unscrupulous marketing to children has become. Before I read this I didn't understand just how insidious some of the marketing is and I would just mark parents who complained about it as "a little crazy or too strict".

I know of parents who are experiencing some of the issues brought up in the book: the wrestling and anger mgt problems, girls trying to dress too old etc. And these kids live in good homes, with parents trying their best to raise them right. As I read the book I started to make correlations all over the place. I think the author hit the issues spot-on.

Because of this book we do NOT turn on the TV when he is awake anymore and make purchasing decisions more wisely.

I originally checked this out of the library, but decided it was a keeper and purchased it. I am also recommending it to many of my friends of kids of all ages.

"Consuming Kids" by Susan Linn builds a solid case against marketing to children. As a Harvard educator specializing in psychiatry and a children's entertainer, Ms. Linn is in an unique position to understand how corporate marketing harms and exploits children's psychic vulnerabilities for profit. Written for a general audience, the author inspires and encourages us to join the campaign to protect children from commercial exploitation.

On the one hand, Ms. Linn's feigned sense of outrage and overly reliant use of rhetorical questions tends to make some of her arguments appear somewhat contrived. For example, the author relates to us her shock upon discovering that businesspeople at a particular professional marketing conference were principally concerned with gaining market share and not with the best interests of children. While her descriptions of some of the invasive techniques that have been cooked up by marketers to cynically manipulate children in service to the corporate bottom line are objectionable, few but the most myopic readers should be surprised.

On the other hand, the facts remain indisputably on Ms. Linn's side. The author cites numerous studies that document the negative consequences associated with marketing junk food, alcohol, violence and sex to children. To cite just one example, we learn that the habitual viewing of wrestling programs on TV is highly correlated with risky behaviors among boys including reckless driving, drinking and fighting. The author is at her best towards the end of the book as she applies her analytical skills to consider how young people might be conditioned by the marketing industry into a state of compulsion and consumption to the point where their ability to participate in meaningful democratic discourse has been irreparably impaired. Ms. Linn goes on to provide us with a list of worthy organizations that are dedicated to the struggle of curbing the marketing onslaught in order to help build a better future for our children and ourselves.

I recommend this informative and persuasive book to everyone.

This book should be "required reading" for kids in high school and/or college, to understand the impact of media on our society and our spending behavior. Maybe it would prepare some of them better for parenting as adults. All parents really NEED to read this book - to be aware of how marketers are trying to "train" our children to be highly consumptive of any product that is available. Americans would be outraged at the conscious manipulation of our children by the media, targeting even the youngest aged children, if they knew what was really going on. Susan Linn did just that - attended national marketing conferences to gain insight into the goals of these marketing companies. Dr. Linn is a children's psychologist at Harvard Medical Center, so she is a very credible reference.

Linn makes a strong case about how the marketing industry does everything to undermine parents. I read this book to learn more about the commercialization of childhood after seeing the film "Consuming Kids" (highly recommend this film!). I am outraged and disappointed that as parents we have so little room to fight the corporate greed that has marketing to kids as a 15 billion dollar industry. Linn provides concrete ways to combat marketing as parents, professionals in the community, foundations, members of the clergy, and policy makers can do. Included is a great appendix of organizations with contact information as well.

I am glad I read this book and highly recommend it to others who care about the well being of children.

This book was a real wake up call to an already wary consumer. After reading this, you will understand exactly how relentless and saavy the advertising industry is at getting kids to successfully beg/nag for unneeded and/or potentially harmful products. One of the main conclusions of the book is that television is not appropriate for children 2 and under. Over that age, parents should use extreme discretion. Don't give advertisers the "cradle to grave" brand loyalty they are seeking. That's just nuts.

To me this is kind of a 'duh' book. Of course marketing targets our kids, and of course if greatly influences them. Nothing new. But if it opens people's eyes that did not yet realize this, and especially if it changes their attitudes towards children and television/videos...then great-- it should be read.

I bought this book for a nutritional CEU coarse and was extremely disappointed. Ms. Linn is barking up the wrong tree. Why are kids fat? There are not any moms who actually stay home and cook a decent meal any more! There is no one home anymore limiting television viewing. Why are kids sexually active--I think that TV and the internet are worse than the commercials. Parents don't parent anymore, but it is not the governments job to raise children. If you think that you can "fight" marketing, think again--the marketing towards adults is what makes for crappy parents in the first place--it appeals to our selfish desires for food, being lazy, being lustful and greedy.