VegBlogger - a vegan / vegetarian blog

Kids and Advertising, It's All About Association

Post written by VegBlogger. Follow me on Twitter.

Today I came across an article titled "Kids and advertising: Mommy, that's my bestest
brand" (read the article here). The article discusses how research was conducted that found that children as young as three years old can identify popular brands and logos, such as McDonald's.

That's not what has me shaking my head. After all, at three my son also knows the McDonald's logo, which was the most recognized brand (93 percent of kids recognized it). But it's all about association. Just what do the kids associate with that logo? That's the disturbing part.

The article reports:

Fast food was described by the three to five-year-olds as “fun, exciting and tasty.” Cola brands were fun because “the bubbles are fun” and “lots of people like them.”

That is sad. Children that young have associated fast food with fun, excitement and good taste. McDonald's spending almost two billion dollars per year advertising has certainly paid off (read more here). The "happy" meal (that there is nothing happy about) has really paid off (read more here and here). The indoor playgrounds to get the parents to frequent such an establishment has paid off in their cradle-to-grave advertising tactics (read more).

But they will have to work harder to get to my kids. When my kids see the McDonald's logo it is usually accompanied with groans and "yuck" announcements. Because my kids have been taught the realities of such a place.

If you ask my kids (who have never been to a McDonald's restaurant) what the restaurant sells, they say "animals on buns." Which, by the way, is the truth. Even their fries have cow fat and are not vegetarian!

It's not a bad thing in and of itself for kids to be able to identify labels. It's the associations they make with those labels that can are damaging. And at the ages of three to five, parents have a big part in helping to guide those views and associations. I know I am, and will continue to do so for as long as possible.

Vegetarian Parents Don't Lie About What Meat Is

Post written by VegBlogger. Follow me on Twitter.

One of the main difference between vegetarian parents and omnivore ones is honesty
in providing information about what their kids are eating. Vegetarian parents tend to teach children the truth about what hamburger, ham or steak is. If they are like me, they even show them on a chart what part of the animal's body it came from.

It is rare to come across omnivore parents that are so honest and candid with their children about where their "food" is coming from. 

Ever hear a parent skew the information by saying it "came from a" chicken, cow, pig, etc.? And that is if they address the subject at all! Kind of like an egg comes from a chicken, but it's not a chicken itself. It sounds better for these parents to say that ham "comes from" a pig, rather than it is a pig (or a pig's butt, as we refer to it in our house).

This evening I came across one of these situations. A woman tried to hide my kids from the realities of animal suffering. Actually, the women was trying to keep them from making the connection. I saw an ad in my local paper for a feed store a couple of miles from my house. It said they had a bunch of baby chicks and ducks. While we have never been to the store, we decided to stop in just to give the kids a chance to see the baby chicks and ducks.

The women started showing them to my kids, who were extremely excited, and she
was announcing what each were. When she got to the end bin she looked at me and said these are the ones that you "E-A-T." She even took the time to whisper and spell it out to me, saying that she didn't want the kids to hear.

Why not? Obviously because the kids would be disgusted at the thought of someone wanting to eat the animals. Not just my kids, but just about all kids!

The kids visited with the animals for about 15 minutes and then we were on our way. I told my kids in the car about how people will buy and eat those animals and how when people say they are eating chicken, that's what they are eating. They all start out as those adorable baby chicks. (By the way, my daughter wanted to rescue them all and make beds for them right next to hers!)

Like so many other times, we used this one to help teach them about these little birds, even discussing how they are probably missing their mommy.

I believe if you have to lie to your child about what they are eating then there is a big problem with what you are serving them. Children should be taught the truth about what "meat" (and all their food) is and how it gets to their table. The only reason that parents would withold such information, lie or hide it, is because they know most children would find it revolting and not want to eat it. Which is a normal response, considering we are not born to be meat eating animals.

It's all about making the connection. It's just too bad that so many parents purposely go out of their way to block the transmission of it.

This is a short video of my delighted daughter holding one of the ones the lady said you "E-A-T." We were leaving, and she started crying, wanting to hold it "just one more time." We turned back and let her, as I filmed it.