Christmas. While it is the annual commemoration of Jesus Christ’s birth, what typically comes to mind? Santa Claus, sugary candy canes, and toys? Precisely, and retail chains around the world are quite aware of our consumer spending habits associated with the holiday season — a peak revenue period for most. “Kids through age 14 will influence $160 billion in spending in November and December [2006], said James McNeal, author of “The Kids Market: Myths and Realities.” With all parents eager to please their little ones, kids become an easy target.
Unfortunately, young children do not have the mental capacity to understand that advertisements can be misleading, and therefore, find it extremely difficult to resist luring sales pitches.
Companies such as Wal-Mart are increasingly indulging in the “nag and whine” strategy, where kids are prodded into nagging their parents to buy them everything on their Christmas wish lists. In fact, in 2006, Wal-Mart helped facilitate the association of happiness with purchasing power by promoting their twisted, “kid-friendly” toy-picking site. The site, www.walmart.com/toyland, features two elves who nudge kids to select toys by clicking on the word YES when a toy appears on the screen. Applause is played when YES in selected. But it’s silent if NO is selected. “If you show us what you want on your wish list, we’ll send it straight off to your parents,” promises one elf.
Why is this so depraved? Well, parents are then forced to buy products for their nagging kids even during tough economic times. If the parents don’t comply, kids often have bad feelings towards their parents. Companies are deliberately encouraging kids to be materialistic, putting a greater burden on their parents to meet their unnecessary demands. This is clearly unethical, causing the true meaning of Christmas to be lost in the midst of child manipulation and greed.
