NVM......I should have raed it all. lol

Anyways. I think demos are great in stores. I mean my kids go to costco with me every weekend just so they can eat the samples, so they try everything and if they like something 9/10 we buy it. I rarely buy stuff the kids see on tv, although I think its a great marketing tool as well.

Yes they may not beable to take them to school etc....but I know my kids eat them here and we pack them to the park and trips to the mall and have for years.

Quoting Rd.:" What if he begs to try it in stores and loves it, will just seeing and wanting something on a commercial ... [snip!] ... on a commercial make them more of a necessity than trying them? Personally I'd rather buy something I knew DD would eat."

We honestly walk past 95% of the demo's they have in stores. I don't know usually he will get passionate about something he sees on TV and if he's been behaving and whatnot then he usually gets to pick out a snack food of his choice. I think even if we did try something in the store and he liked it, he would still want that "other" gimmicky product, usually for the sole reason that they put some character on the box or something cool happened in the commercial.

Quoting Asher's mommy [Expecting :" That begs another question- and I'm totally playing devil's advocate here, btw- but you made a great ... [snip!] ... he'll learn about all kinds of smurf he doesn't need to hear about. But that's an entirely different rabbit trail.... lol "

I think the debate is hard because you need to generalize every parent, but the only evidence you have is your own parenting lol.

For example, I let DD watch treehouse for about an hour a day and that's it (there are no commercials) yet we go grocery shopping multiple times a week and stop at every demo that is not dairy or caffeine lol. On the other hand some parents let their kids just have the tv remote for however long and in the grocery store never stop at the demos because they want to get in and get out.

I think in class the debate rubbed me the wrong way because I am a parent and they are not, and I could defend my point and they could not. Although I don't automatically think I should win for having more points, but I felt like they should have more reasons for their side instead of brushing me off. Plus they told me if my child could not recall exactly what product it was, then she is retarded. Ya, my 4 year old is retarded because she would not be able to tell me more than it was crackers and peanut butter and maybe the colour of the packaging lol

Quoting ----&&:" We honestly walk past 95% of the demo's they have in stores. I don't know usually he will get passionate ... [snip!] ... product, usually for the sole reason that they put some character on the box or something cool happened in the commercial."

Lol that is true, I mean kids don't know what they like, they like what they want... I buy those stupid overpriced gummy snacks for DD because Dora is on the box. Yet we walk by the same product with no character on it and DD doesn't even look twice!

Quoting Rd.:" Lol that is true, I mean kids don't know what they like, they like what they want... I buy those stupid ... [snip!] ... for DD because Dora is on the box. Yet we walk by the same product with no character on it and DD doesn't even look twice!"

That is exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote that haha....for DS its the jake and the neverland pirate ones.

Quoting Rd.:" I think the debate is hard because you need to generalize every parent, but the only evidence you have ... [snip!] ... because she would not be able to tell me more than it was crackers and peanut butter and maybe the colour of the packaging lol"

If you ever get to a point where do you let your dd watch tv with commercials (props to you if you don't - you're a better mother than me for sure), you might be surprised by how much information she retains. Sampling a demo isn't going to give her a brand name and product recognition, or anything other than "crackers and peanut butter." They put those commercials on rapid rotation during kids' shows, just to make sure the name and ad lines are drilled into those sweet, impressionable little heads. So after seeing the ad a few times, she would absolutely know the name and product.

Quoting Rd.:" I think the debate is hard because you need to generalize every parent, but the only evidence you have ... [snip!] ... because she would not be able to tell me more than it was crackers and peanut butter and maybe the colour of the packaging lol"

True. And the thing is, unfortunately, in reality I really do think that think that most parents (or at least enough to make a killing for stupid products) hand their kids the remote and just let them watch TV for hours on end. Which would make TV probably the more aggressive approach. It really bothers me, though, and I can't put my finger on why... but I guess I just feel personally that corporations shouldn't be dictating to my children how to think, act, be "cool", etc. Most parents don't think that way though.

And as far as the debate... the moral of the story is, it sucks when people are ignorant, really. It sucks to be the only parent in a room full of idiot kids. Even though, I'm sure they are your peers and not really "kids", I would imagine that having a child puts you lightyears away from them when it comes to being responsible and mature. Kudos to you for enduring it to further your education. Hahaha

Quoting Stfu Shirley:" If you ever get to a point where do you let your dd watch tv with commercials (props to you if you don't ... [snip!] ... those sweet, impressionable little heads. So after seeing the ad a few times, she would absolutely know the name and product."

I'm waiting until she's too old for Treehouse aha, but I don't think you're less of a mom for letting your kid watch commercials!

That is a valid point though, which I would not know how much DD retains because we don't do it... I should have considered the children who do, and I have no doubt DD would remember if it was catchy and colourful. I mean she knows all the songs and can repeat some of the dialogue on the channels she watches.

Quoting Asher's mommy [Expecting :" True. And the thing is, unfortunately, in reality I really do think that think that most parents (or ... [snip!] ... away from them when it comes to being responsible and mature. Kudos to you for enduring it to further your education. Hahaha"

Why are you assuming that she's in a room full of idiots? Just because they aren't parents doesn't mean they don't have a grasp of human nature. That's all marketing is anyway, the study of how to manipulate people into buying whatever smurf you're selling. I studied it and worked in the industry for years, and it's all pretty simple.

I let my dd watch tv, but I don't hand her the remote and give her carte blanche. When she mentions a product she has seen on tv, we talk about it. She's barely 4 and she understands why there are commercials and the fact that most products aren't as great irl as they are on tv. She has a pretty good understanding of buying and selling, and making money. It's not too hard for kids to understand.

Quoting Stfu Shirley:" Why are you assuming that she's in a room full of idiots? Just because they aren't parents doesn't mean ... [snip!] ... on tv. She has a pretty good understanding of buying and selling, and making money. It's not too hard for kids to understand."

Because she said they were being extremely rude to her about it. I'm talking about the particular class she was in, not all college kids.

Quoting Stfu Shirley:" Why are you assuming that she's in a room full of idiots? Just because they aren't parents doesn't mean ... [snip!] ... on tv. She has a pretty good understanding of buying and selling, and making money. It's not too hard for kids to understand."

Sorry, never said anything about YOUR kid, so I'm not 100 percent on why you're getting defensive about it....  

Quoting Rd.:" I mean she knows all the songs and can repeat some of the dialogue on the channels she watches."

THAT is exactly what I'm talking about.
Little kids are all about repetition and catchy little songs. Look in any preschool or daycare and that's what they're all doing, right? And it's the same thing with the toddler tv shows. Dora, especially, comes to mind as being incredibly repetitive, but that's how kids that age learn. Ad executives get paid lots of money to break it down into simple little bites that will get stuck in their audience's heads. Small children are by far the easiest targets.

Quoting Asher's mommy [Expecting :" Sorry, never said anything about YOUR kid, so I'm not 100 percent on why you're getting defensive about it....  "

Oh sorry, I didn't mean to sound defensive. I was just sayin'...not every kid who's allowed to watch tv is being governed by said tv.

Quoting Asher's mommy [Expecting :" True. And the thing is, unfortunately, in reality I really do think that think that most parents (or ... [snip!] ... away from them when it comes to being responsible and mature. Kudos to you for enduring it to further your education. Hahaha"

Lmao, it's hard... this particular group is hard to fit in with and kind of mean. For example I asked my group for Monday's assignment if we could get together and run our lines one time. They told me ya, at 1pm after their meeting. So I get there and their meeting hadn't even started and when it did they kicked me out of the room. I waited around and caught them as they were leaving... they were all going to the mall and did not invite me or anything. So I asked again if we could quickly go over our lines before they left, and basically they joked around for 5 minutes and left. Sooo... blind presentation on Monday, yay. I waited around for an hour, for no reason and I didn't even have have class at that time; I came from home.

Someone mentioned in class in regards to tv commercials that company's aren't allowed to advertise to children, but the teacher said that was a topic for another day. I want to know more about it... I'll probably Google it lol. That's a reason I like treehouse because I like to know what DD is watching and I don't have the time or patience to sit down and watch it lol. Another example, in the mornings Teletoon is actually "Teletoon Retro" and they play the shows I use to watch as a kid like 15-20 years ago. So, although it's children's cartoons they play infomercials for pants that make your butt look sexy or hair removal tools for your bikini line, every 2 minutes (literally). Now what adult do you know, gets up at 7am to sit down and watch cartoons? lol

Quoting Stfu Shirley:" Oh sorry, I didn't mean to sound defensive. I was just sayin'...not every kid who's allowed to watch tv is being governed by said tv."

I don't think that at all. My kid watches TV. I think that A LOT of parents don't care what their kids watch, though. I think BG is a bad example for that because most of the parents I run into on here absolutely care. However, if I'm talking about people I deal with on a daily basis, and my FB friends, if you open the sample group up a bit, a lot of them don't care.