More than 10 billion dollars are spent annually on fast food advertising to children in various ways. Most of these ads are for foods and beverages that are high in fat, sugar, calories, salt, and low in nutrients. It’s not so much the ad itself as the tactic used to entice our kids to want your product. The most obvious means of communication is television advertising. Marketing gurus know how to get into kids’ heads and how to get the most sought after response. They know that children can and do influence their parents when it comes to buying groceries.

On average, children see more than 40,000 commercials a year, most of which are for candy, cereal, toys, and fast food restaurants. Fast food advertising for kids is not just limited to fast food restaurants. If it’s fast and it’s food then it’s fast food. It’s fair to say that fast food advertising is big business. Also, trying to keep kids from watching TV is a daunting task, especially since so many kids have TVs in their bedrooms. The methods used for advertising are within the norm for advertising. Companies spend money to get their product noticed by what their target audience should be. In other words, you’d be hard-pressed to find a 60 Minutes ad for Cocoa Krispies just like you’d be hard-pressed to find a Nickelodeon ad for TDWaterhouse.

sneaky tactics

Today’s kids have more spending power, they are tomorrow’s consumers, and because they influence their parents on purchases, it opens up a whole new audience for marketers. Children are much more vocal than they used to be and aren’t afraid to speak up when they want something. Advertisers call this Pester Power. I call it nagging. In other words, children are not afraid to kick and scream to get their parents to buy something. Fast food advertising to kids is all about Pester Power and marketers rely on kids to scold parents instead of marketing directly to parents. They know that marketing to children will generate better results. Marketers divide Pester Power into 2 categories. Persistent persistence and persistent importance. The persistence that scolds is begging repeatedly. Persistent relevance, on the other hand, is what marketers rely on. It’s about providing for your children and the guilt that comes with not being available enough for your children. There are many tactics used in fast food advertising to children, such as toys included with meals and monopoly game pieces. Fast food outlets will claim this is to provide a more pleasant visit to their store for parents, but it is actually causing children to crave fast food.

internet and viral marketing

Fast food advertising to children is not just limited to television. The Internet; which is more profitable and viral marketing have also become advertising venues. Internet marketers know how kids use the web and how popular sites like MySpace and Facebook are. They also know that children love to click on links. If it says click here – do it. Many websites offer free ringtones and music downloads. In order to get the freebie, an email address is required and so cross-promotion campaigns start creating kids fast food ads through email marketing.

We can’t stop advertising fast food to kids, but we can control TV viewing time. Less TV time as a family could reduce the hassle of fast food and create a more nutritious and healthy home environment.