In The Hidden Persuaders Vance Packard quotes an ad that alerted manufacturers to television’s extraordinary ability. It said: “Where else on earth is brand consciousness fixed so firmly in the minds of four-year-old tots? . . . What is it worth to a manufacturer who can close in on this juvenile audience and continue to sell it under controlled conditions year after year, right up to its attainment of adulthood and full-fledged buyer status?”

Three college professors in the United States surveyed children between the ages of five and 12 years, and found that they were exposed to an average of nearly 400 television commercials a week​—some 20,000 a year! These professors commented: “The ability of children to . . . avoid being ‘misled’ or deceived is an issue of considerable current interest, particularly in the light of this high exposure children​—even very young ones—​have to commercials.”

They found that 56 percent of the kindergarten children had low awareness of “why commercials are on TV,” and that about half thought “commercials always tell the truth.” These children are very young, but advertisers spend great sums of money to reach them because they believe that lifelong habits already are being formed.

The professors also found that only about half the mothers of these five-year-old children talked with them about commercials. They commented: “Many kindergarten mothers appeared to be missing an opportunity to teach their children to understand the intent of commercials, an understanding that can help them to begin to function as effective consumers.” However, they found that even young children can “filter” advertising messages, and that this ability can be taught “even to kindergarten-aged children.”a

Often this has not been done. The editor of Seventeen, an American magazine for teen-age girls, has been quoted as saying that his young readers are a good market because they “have not yet become cynical about advertising.”

It is good to take the initiative. Talk with your children about advertising. Point out that it can provide a great deal of information, but that its obvious purpose is to get people to spend money. The businessman can increase his profits if he can get you to want products that you do not really need, such as new gadgets and new styles. More important than the money that might be wasted is the materialistic viewpoint this can teach​—the idea that buying leads to happiness.