Business Ethics

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to babysit my little nephew while my brother and his wife went on one of their weekly date nights. During this time, I allowed my four-year-old nephew to watch some cartoons before his bedtime. In the midst of watching these cartoons, I began to notice something strange. Every single time a commercial break would come on, I noticed that all the commercials were targeted towards children. Advertisements about toys, sugary candies, and many other items kids would be interested in appeared one after another. This incident really got me wondering, is it ethical for marketers to place children as their target market? In other words, is marketing specifically to children ethical? The Dangers The first question we should be asking, is how does marketing actually affect the young kids who come into contact with it? Dr. Susan Linn, director of Free-Childhood marketing, stated that “advertising in and of itself is harmful to children. Marketing tar...