Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Kids and TV (Commercials)

Most adults I know really don't care for commercials. There are some notable exceptions. I love the Aflac commercial with Yogi Berra and the Geico commercials. But small children love commercials. Why? I don't know. I have seen kids stop playing to watch some silly ad. I've even been in the way of a child running from another room to get to the tv in time to view a commercial. Being in the way of a small child on the run to a commercial is about like being in the way of a hungry lion about to eat fresh meat. Not a pretty sight. Why do kids do this? It is a scary thought when you realize a kid knows the lines or lyrics of a commercial, but not the ABC's. I think we have all seen this at one time or another. My own children loved commercials when they were little. Of course,during the week, they were only allowed to watch PBS. I really think some of these programs helped them learn to read. I let them watch cartoons on Saturday morning. But they still developed the fascination with tv ads. I was one of those mothers who kept a close watch on tv. I tried not to us the tv as a baby sitter. Sometimes it was hard. Turning off the tv to get the kids to play together sometimes was a battle. I really think they liked the sounds regardless of what was actually on tv at the time. When they were small they loved to "dance" around to the music of some of the ads. And of course later they discovered that some of the commercials were directed to them. That's when the war started. "Mom, I want that" was constantly heard around our house. Usually the answer was "No". When you have three pre-school kids at home resistance is the key. Yeah, mean old Mom won't let us have... Gotta draw the line somewhere. That'll teach you to run over me to get to that commercial!

3 comments:

Pixie said...

LOL! My kids always want to get the things they see on tv for me because they think it would make my life easier. I remember when my oldest was about 5 or 6; he saw a commercial for "Ding King" and wanted to get that for his Dad so badly. He was even trying to save up enough to buy it. It was rather cute. :-)

We've gone almost 2 weeks without tv; it's been nice.

B.R.L said...

The ad people are good and know how to get the kids attention. The work on us too but we are on to them. You have to be the "mean" mother and say no as you have been doing.

cube said...

I think kids love commercials because they love repetition. Whenever a commercial repeats, it looks familiar to them & they love it more the more familiar it becomes to them. Vicious cycle.