Disney release another spellbinding family movie and parents around the globe despair. Once again they must prepare for the inevitable onslaught of demands from their children for that prized Disney merchandise- the toys, matching lunch box, duvet, costumes, questionable life size cut out of Zac Efron. The purchases seem to snowball with head to toe, floor to ceiling High School Musical or Hannah Montana, and soon enough little Johny or Jenny is a veritable tribute to the Disney dynasty. Have today’s children become more demanding, more dissatisfied, or more exposed to marketing messages? Have today’s parents become more submissive, more generous, or more exploited by advertising agencies? Have marketers become more responsive to children’s needs, or just more alert to the incredibly lucrative market of childhood? Whichever explanation you may lean towards, our children cannot escape the current grip of consumerism.
As bedrooms overflow with toys and trinkets we may question whether nowadays parents are freely succumbing to the demands of their child, instead of teaching the valuable lesson- ‘you can’t always get what you want’. Sometimes it is just easier to say yes than run the risk of a hysterical child pulling at your sleeve all day. This is not lost on those crafty advertisers. Their media messages are designed to influence children, who in turn influence the consumer behaviour of their parents, enabling marketing moguls to capitalise on the assurance that children are very adept naggers.
And how can a parent deny their child the latest action figure without feeling the acute pang of guilt when they plead that all their classmates have one? We forget what a cruel place the playground can be, unless you are sporting the latest in toy technology you can be king of the hill one day, and ousted the next. Nobody wants their child to feel outcast and inadequate in the playground so who can blame Mum and Dad for heading to the nearest toy store if it ensures happiness and acceptance? Surely there’s no harm in wanting to provide a comfortable environment for your child. Until that comfort eats into your overdraft. Then you may wish to point the finger at unscrupulous advertisers.
The advertising industry has always played on people’s insecurities and need for social acceptance, and this is just as easily applied to a child audience, with the added bonus of their childlike naiveté. Children tend to unquestionably accept the enchanting and exaggerated messages communicated to them in adverts, leaving parents to burst their bubble when they are lumbered with providing the small print. Ultimately advertisers are interested in selling, they can leave moralising and teaching to the parents. But should we accuse them of corrupting the youth of today with their toys and games, or are they simply guilty of providing children with the means to escape into a world of fantasy? Children are constantly encouraged into this realm of dreams through play, where they learn to develop their imagination, foster new ideas and cultivate ambition. However, it could be argued that both advertisers and parents alike try to control these fantasies for their own gain- be it financial profit or social approval.
There is a social expectation for Johny to play heroic war games with Action Man and Jenny to play demure homemaker with Barbie, and parents seem anxious to make this distinction between boys and girls behaviour through the toys they buy them. Historian Antonia Fraser suggests, ‘If toys are the starting-point of dreams, then the nature of children’s toys must be of extreme importance, not only in forming their fantasies, but also in guiding what sort of fantasies they form’. So when parents buy their daughters tea sets and immerse them in pink, or buy sons plastic pistols and camouflage, they are essentially conditioning their children towards gender stereotypes. Heaven forbid your son play with your daughter’s dolls, what would the neighbours say? Moreover, toy manufacturers and advertising agencies exploit this notion by marketing products in such a way as to present explicit messages about appropriate behaviour for boys and girls. Strong and brave versus pretty and nurturing, that’s what the parents want and that’s where the money lies. But as noted in the journal, The Family Coordinator, ‘continuous presentation of stereotypic toys may deny a child freedom to explore, discover and express potential’ and, ‘may exclude boys and girls from having varied and valuable experiences’.
As parents we may choose to offer our children a brimming toy box, or a few special play things to be cherished. Either way we should not underestimate the impact that our choices as parents, advertisers, manufacturers and society as a whole have on the younger generation. When all’s said and done, are all the toys in the world really any substitute for personal love and affection? I think all parties would agree on a resounding ‘No’.
Photography: Ellie Harvey
