Business Ethics:

Branding & Marketing To Kids

By Group 03 -
Mahesh Ogania (2018089)
Ravi Kamani (2018101)
Saumya Mittal (2018109)
Anish Kamat (2017132)
Osama Kamran (2017254)
Tansheen Saluja (2017058)
Branding & Marketing To Kids
What role does consumerism have in hunger, poverty, slavery, exploitation...? A
1 re we manipulated by corporations? What is our responsibility?.

Should there be a limit to the amount of advertising in our public space?.

2

Consider the Nag Factor study. Is it ethical to do such research and use it to i
nfluence children’s behavior and their parents’ spending habits? If not, how wou
3 ld you stop it? In some countries, marketing to children under certain ages is pr
ohibited. Should marketing to children of any age for any product be allowed? H
ow can parents shield their children from this manipulation?

Branding connects consumers to a product emotionally and/or intellectually. Ha

4 s it undermined our ability to connect to non-branded issues? as Naomi Klein s
uggests. If so, is there any way to counteract this effect?
Role of Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order and ideology that encourages the acquisition of goods
and services in an ever increasing amount.

Hunger

• To understand why people go hungry you must stop thinking about food as something farmers grow for others to eat,
and begin thinking about it as something companies produce for other people to buy. Food is a commodity. Much of
the best agricultural land in the world is used to grow commodities such as cotton, tea, tobacco, sugar cane, and coc
oa, items which are non-food products or are marginally nutritious, but for which there is a large market.

• But the problem is that people who don’t have enough money to buy simply don’t count in the food equation.

• Put yet another way, you would not expect the gap to manufacture clothes, Adidas to manufacture sneakers, or IBM
to provide computers for those people earning $1.00 a day or less; likewise, you would not expect ADM (supermarke
t to the world) to produce food for them. What this means is that ending hunger requires doing away with poverty, or,
at the very least, ensuring that people have enough money or the means to acquire it, to buy, and hence create a ma
rket demand for food.
Poverty

• Talking about poverty, 20% of the world's population consumes over 70% of its material resources. This shocki
ng statistic is at the basis of arguments that consumerism is the root cause of poverty. There are about 1.7 billi
on people, who live in absolute poverty. Yet, in accordance with the united nations (world food program, Janua
ry 2012) the world produces enough food to feed everyone and could feed double the world population.
• Consumerism is argued to be one of the main causes of poverty in countries although the reasons for this are
different. By buying what they are told they need, they think that they will escape from poverty when in fact it is
this unnecessary consumption. This creates this increasing gap between the rich (those manufactures who re
ceive the profits) and the poor (those who cannot afford to consume unnecessarily, but still do).
• Another way in which consumerism correlates with poverty is through Bauman's theory of the poor as "flawed
consumers”. Modern societies are built up around consumption rather than production and that this is a key pr
oblem. This shift from a culture of producers to one of consumers. As the poor are not capable of consuming g
oods that supply high profits for the producers, they are considered "flawed consumers" and investing in their
survival is seen as a misuse of money.
.
Slavery and Exploitation
Slavery is defined as “a person who works very hard without proper remuneration or appreciation” as in today’s world of
a person working for a company or corporation where their efforts are usually under appreciated. Debt can be an instru
ment used to control an individual or a nation for that matter. In this case, an individual is dependent upon “credit” to bu
y products. Here the need for consuming puts the person in never ending vicious cycle to want more which in-turn entr
aps them, making them a slave to the system.
When people become ingrained in consumption disregarding the debt they inherit, they become immune to the realities
around them. When the situation becomes intense with a coming dollar collapse and a possible war in the middle east,
reality will sink in. Then when the necessities such as food and shelter become scarce the people will begin to panic a
nd lose control over their own lives
Exploitation
The production, processing, and consumption, of commodities requires the extraction and use of natural resources (wo
od, ore, fossil fuels, and water); it requires the creation of factories and factory complexes whose operation creates toxi
c by-products, while the use of commodities themselves (e.g. Automobiles) creates pollutants and waste.

Within the current economic system of perpetual growth, we risk being locked into a mode of development that is:
• Destructive, in the long run, to the environment
• A contributing factor to poverty around the world
• A contributing factor to hunger amongst such immense wealth
• And numerous other social and ecological problems
Are we manipulated by Corporations?
• A major negative aspect of corporations that the corporation brings up is their hypocritical nature. They ad
vertise themselves and try to get people to buy their products by supporting a good cause, such as helpin
g children with diseases, and yet they use very cheap child (or early teenage) labour in other countries in t
he manufacture of those products. It pointed out that everywhere a person goes they are influenced by co
rporation's views by the products they see around. If corporations were given all of the rights of natural per
sons then they could effectively brainwash people by constantly presenting them with their products which
represent their views.
• One of the companies the film exposed was that of IBM. The film presents a very controversial claim that I
BM helped Hitler and Nazi Germany during WWII. According to the film, IBM had an exclusive agreement
with Nazi Germany and secretly sold them punch card machines as well as other machines that aided in t
he holocaust. With IBM's machines Hitler was able to quickly and efficiently murder the thousands of peop
le in concentration camps. By presenting IBM as a company which enabled the persecution of Jews, the fi
lm is able to portray IBM in a negative light and support the idea that corporations sole motive is that of pr
ofit.
• Coca-Cola also didn't let the economic powerhouse of the third Reich pass it by. During WWII Coca-Cola
created Fanta orange and distributed to the millions in Nazi Germany. Buy creating a brand new product c
oke was able to avoid being associated with Hitler while still making major profits in Germany.
Responsibility of Consumers

• Do not buy in a hurry or blindly i.e. Do a complete research on the product before buying it
• To be aware of his/her rights in all aspects of consumption.
• To look for the specifications of the good he/she wishes to buy.
• Not to be tempted by misleading advertisements.
• Do not compromise on quality.
• To make sure that the prices of items purchased are reasonable, either by checking the market prices
, or based on his/her purchasing experience, or by comparing the quality of the product or service wit
h its price.
• To change the consumption behaviour in all aspects by specifying the items to be consumed and avoi
ding stockpiling of items for a long time, or keeping them in unsuitable containers. Also, to refrain from
wasting food and other items that mostly end up in garbage bins.
Advertising in public space
• Advertising in public space means an easy way to reach children’s mind.

• It is all about notion of manipulating the children to buy the products.

• A survey was taken in 1998 to see the amount of nagging done by the children on when why and
where, they are nagging to buy a product.

• It was seen parents are more likely to buy products when kids ask for them.

• Children’s minds are not developed.

• The advertise in which children are exposed today is honed by psychologist, enhanced by media
technology.

• Marketers know children are the future buyers. So they start to manipulate them from early age.
Advertising to Children
• Advertising to children primarily involves television spots that feature toys and food products, mo
st of which are high in fat and sugar and low in nutritional value which is not good for their health

• Children lack the cognitive skills to understand the persuasive intent of television and online adv
ertisements

• Children also shape the buying patterns of their families. From vacation choices to car purchase
s to meal selections, they exert a tremendous power over the family pocketbook. So to influence
children means to earn profit
Limitation required for advertising

• Child advertising may impact self-esteem, making them feel inferior to other children if th
ey do not have the latest products that are seen in commercials.

• With more commercials targeting children, reality and fantasy do not seem too different.
This can cause a lot of confusion among children, distorting their sense of reality.

• Threat advertising to children is inherently unfair and deceptive and should be banned.
Advertising to kids should be
banned or not?
• Some groups feel that government is responsible for protecting children from potential harmful effect
s of advertising while others argue that parents are ultimately responsible for doing so.
• Advertising is a part of life and children must learn to deal with it in consumer socialization process o
f acquiring the skills needed to function in the market place.
• Parents should be involved in helping children interpret advertising and can refuse to purchase prod
ucts they believe are undesirable for their children.
• The researcher also feels that the parents have started noticing the positive effects of advertising on
children when they see their children referring to the social awareness creating advertisements durin
g discussions with their parents which according to them is the positive effect of advertising.
Nag Factor theory
• The "nag factor" is the tendency of children, who are bombarded with marketers' messages, to unrelen
tingly request advertised items.
• Manipulation is a form wherein the companies through advertising or giving product samples or promot
ions tap the children/teenagers into buying products and then these teenagers knowingly or unknowing
ly participate in a word of mouth marketing effort.
• Lets take an example of obesity in children our attention often turns towards the marketing and consu
mption of junk food
• Clearly, children are not the primary shoppers in the households, so how do child-oriented, low-nutritio
n foods and beverages enter the homes and diets of young children? The answer to this is the associa
tion which a child has with commercial TV characters and which ultimately becomes the primary cause
of nagging
Countries which have taken steps to
limit the harmful impact of junk-food
marketing
• Canada-Quebec's law passed in 1980 restricting junk-food marketing to kids was the first of its kind,
banning fast food marketing aimed at children under 13. The companies together decided that each
would require that at least 50% of advertisements targeted at children under the age of 12 years’ old
would contain “healthier dietary choices”.
• Chile-Chilean law restricts advertising which targets children under the age of 14 for foods considere
d high in calories, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium.
• France-rather than setting restrictions on the amount of junk-food advertising, French authorities req
uire that advertisements for products containing added fats, sweeteners, or sodium display dietary p
rinciples accordingly.
• Other countries like Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Taiwan and united kingdom have also implemented si
milar laws in their country
• Sweden and the Pokémon debacle-gotta catch `em all." -Stealth advertising
Adverse effect of marketing
on children’s mind
• Advertisements of alcohol, tobacco can push unhealthy behaviors in children and adolescents.

• Children see fit-looking adults munching on various junk foods and assume that they are healthy as th
ey do not understand the concept of advertising.

• Many advertisements use beautiful young women to attract buyers. This have a seriously negative eff
ect on how children think. They think if they are not slim or fair or beautiful, they are unpopular and wil
l not make any friends.

• Objectification of women is another serious issue that is brought on by advertisements which creates
adverse effect on children’s mind.

• Many advertisements seen today involve dangerous stunts which children try to imitate as they do not
understand the statutory warnings that come with the ads.

• All of the above stated advertising techniques to influence children may seem detrimental directly not
only to child’s health but also his behavior and personality
Role of parents and designing ethical
marketing solutions
• Limiting commercial exposure of kids is deemed to be the most effective solution as suggested by
mother’s of various US households in a survey conducted. Since there is an ever-increasing exposu
re to kids both in terms of technology and mass media it is imperative that majority of buying behavi
or of kids is influenced by the commercials they watch on TV and the website they surf
• Explaining to children the reasons behind making or not making certain purchases is also an effectiv
e solution as it will help the child what is good for him in the long run and what is not
• It is ethical to conduct such researches to understand the brand image which a child has and develo
p products which are not detrimental to child's health or else the laws should be bended to an extent
which limit the amount of food and beverage advertising shown on commercial television and other
media, as this may lessen children's nagging for unhealthy items.
Branding
• It is a process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumer’s mind,
mainly through advertisement campaign with a consistent theme.

• Branding improves recognition, creates trust, supports advertising, builds financial value & inspires e
mployees.

• Good branding increases the value of the company and makes acquiring new customers easier.
Did branding undermined our ability
to connect to non-branded issues?
• Connecting consumers to products emotionally and/or intellectually through branding has undermine
d the ability to non branded issues, that’s where we get the idea of off brand names vs brand names.
• Generally, we enjoy the high brand products more than the off brand products because we believe th
ey are of higher quality.
• We connect with certain brands like they were a part of us, and it has certainly affected our outlook o
n things.
Solution to the Effect?
• There is no one-stop solution to eliminate branding and its impact on individuals.
• We associate ourselves with brands instead of looking for quality and reliance.
• And thus, instead for looking for high quality products, we look for high brand products because of th
e impact of branding in our minds.
• The only way to counteract this effect is to understand on an individual level that spending more just
for the name is only hurting us.
References
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y888wVY5hzw
• http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2004/0202/084.html
• https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/16/naomi-klein-branding-obama-america
• http://philipgraves.net/branding-for-children-unconscious-influence/
• https://pregelamerica.com/pmag/articles/marketing-to-children/
Thank you