Declan is a sophisticated five-year old. He’s evolved from Nick and Disney Jr to regular Nick and Disney Channels. This is a milestone in our lives. One I don’t love. There are some shows I avoid on the Big Kid stations. I stand firm on censorship with some, like a modern-day Tipper Gore, but I guess superheroes aren’t so bad. I’ll allow some. “They’re good, Mommy. They save the world.” We all need a superhero from time to time.
What I hate are the commercials. Ruthlessness. Once you get sucked into these big kid stations, the pretense of commercial-free learning is gone. This is very, very bad.
I wouldn’t mind so much if the commercials were for compost bins, natural foods, or world peace, but they’re incessant pleas to bother me for things that have no value–sugar cereal, fast-food restaurants, action figures that support the shows on the station, and things that beget the need for other things.
Here are a few I marketing campaigns that stand out:
Monopoly electronic debit card version: Who can argue with Monopoly? I love that game. Consolidating resources made this nation great. This new version takes out some of the rustic charm out of beating friends into poverty and submission, I think, starting with the credit card. One good thing is they don’t have to print the one-dollar bills that are so devalued in today’s society that even the slumlord on Baltic won’t take them. And everyone just steals the 100’s from the bank anyway. Maybe the credit card keeps them honest. But it also makes it so kids can’t count back change. The good news is that the debt card allows children to be indoctrinated to the great American past time, getting into debt. There is, I hear, a National Deficit version of Monopoly where instead of “going directly to jail,” you go directly to Beijing to negotiate a forbearance for the deficit.
Jenga Boom: What genius infuses a domino stacking game with mini-simulated IEDs these days? A domino game that blows up? Hmmmm….Perhaps I’m misunderstanding. In this zero-tolerance day and age where you can’t say “Man, I’m gonna beat you,” in jest without getting slapped with charges for attempted murder, it’s permissible to train kids play games that explode? Might as well give them Nerf or Red Ryder BB guns. This game would be better suited for a fraternity party, I think.
Stompees–Slippers that have ears and eyeballs that pop out? Genius. These are cute, but the air inflatable body parts that cause eyeballs to protrude and ears to rise when the child stomps, filling the little character with air—-my dog would eat them, or The Boy would trip.
Sugar Cereal. These commercials are relentless. One commercial has a bird bouncing off things hitting his head off of walls. Do you really want a cereal that makes you smash your head into walls? Or one whose flakes, loops, or chunks can’t readily be found in nature without two graphic artists altering them?
Can’t we watch PBS? The only thing they sell is pledge week–give them some cash and they will leave you alone, or even better yet, send you Pete Seeger’s collection or a lifetime subscription to the digital version of Antique’s Roadshow. That’s much better than sugar cereal. I think.
I really want to go back to little kid TV. Or better yet, no TV at all.
[Image: munfitnessblog.com ]
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
I wouldn’t mind so much if the commercials were for compost bins, natural foods, or world peace, but they’re incessant pleas to bother me for things that have no value–sugar cereal, fast-food restaurants, action figures that support the shows on the station, and things that beget the need for other things.
That’s why we don’t have cable, or a TV with an antenna. Anything we watch is on Netflix. Saves us from that at home. BUT, when we’re anywhere with a TV, our son wants to watch Nickelodeon, the cartoon channel, etc. We let him watch a little in the hotel room and spend all our time explaining how the people who makes commercials spend their entire lives trying to get people to believe their “story” and buy the “stuff,” a sort of brainwash game. When he visits his cousins, all bets are off…
It’s truly a hellish transition. Brutal, actually. I am online a lot but would never miss TV.
ROKU here. NO cable. Over the air, yes (for Hubbie) Netflix, Amazon, and Hula for a total cost of about $21/ month and basically commercial-free. They’re better off watching I love Lucy reruns than ANYTHING on Disney or NICK 😉 (though Amazon does have nick shows)
I wish there was someway to program in the shows that were permitted. And filter out the rest.
I so agree. I still get angry when I tune in to a channel called “abc Family”
NOT family oriented shows! I also accidentally bought the Monopoly game with the credit card. I had no clue until we opened it to play with the grandkids one weekend and… I was aghast. I put the lid back on and stuffed it under the couch.
Oh, my. I wonder about that “family” designation. I want a spokesperson to clarify it…
Cereal is horrifying. Even the “good” ones have tons of sugar. The “bad” ones just make their little heads spin around….
I’m an adult, and I still can’t eat it…too…much…guilt:(
Even Raisin Bran?
I’m eating Lucky Charms this very minute. Sure, there’s guilt, but also little marshmallows shaped like moons 🙂
Ha. That’s funny. Although the marshmallows are not vegetarian–that’s a different story. I was at the Mennonite store in VA and they had a candy section with an entire bag of just the marshmallows.
Fortunately, we don’t watch much TV, except for commercial-free Netflix. Early on, I taught my daughter about the cereal aisle and we frequently have conversations about why things are advertised the way they are. I’ve taken on the commercial world, when it does impinge upon our lives, as an opportunity to teach her critical thinking about marketing. Sometimes it actually sticks!
Usually I say something obnoxious, “No, that’s just an advertising genius trying to steal your soul. You don’t want your soul stolen, do you?”
Amen. I feel sorry for my sons generation. It’s like companies have run out of ideas for making things fun & practical. Most times my little man just likes playing with cars, stuffed animals and fake food anyway
Most kids have lost the freedom to roam the neighborhood anymore because of the dangers and crazies of the world. (not that we didn’t have them when we were growing up, but they have multiplied now) I spend a lot of time introducing him to old cartoons & games, so a kid can be a kid. Nothing beats the good old days. Crap! I sound old.
Yeah, but we didn’t have video games:) Heck, I still don’t. I only had Pong.