Advertising Works

Now I know why some parents in the 80's were so against commercials that target children.

My kids used to only watch the Disney channel (I know, it is an advertisement), but over the past few months they've gotten into Nickelodeon more and more. As most parents know, the difference between Disney & Nick is that Nick has commercials, while Disney doesn't (sort of). At first they thought the show was over every commercial break and went to their rooms to play instead of finishing the show. Then they realized that the show comes back after those commercials, and got mad when the commercials came on. Then they realized that those commercials are full of fun toys and junk that they need to have in their rooms!

Abby is certainly a victim of commercial targeting. Just about every time a Barbie commercial comes on, she runs to me and says "You know, there's this new Barbie out there that has wings that pop up!" Just so I know, you see....

I've also always wondered why Nick runs bathroom cleaner commercials during shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and The Wonder Pets. Are they hoping that the kids will run and clean the bathroom after the show? My kids just don't do that. Sure, parents supposedly watch TV with their kids - but what parent just sits there and listens to "snacky-snack-snack snack-snack" for 30 minutes, when they could be washing dishes or starting a load of laundry, or taking a shower while their kids are so engrossed in this show??

Now don't get me wrong, I don't let my kids watch TV all day - but I do take advantage of clever shows like Gabba or The Wonder Pets. They're just too good not to watch, and I do feel that they are not violent or inappropriate in any way, and my kids do learn something each time.

Now back to that bathroom cleaner. Abby came up to me just a minute ago (while watching Gabba), and said "Mommy, can you buy one of those new toilet brushes that cleans under the edge better? Cause our toilet brush is no good, and this one cleans the edge much better." Does advertisement work, or what??

Now if I could just get one of the kids to clean the toilet with that new brush....