Consumerism at its Finest

A few mornings ago I heard my boys discussing which car insurance company they were going to go with when they start driving. Never mind the fact that they won't be driving for another five to six years, apparently this conversation was one of real importance for them. Pumpkin Head was going with All State, no question about it! However, he changed his mind once Monkey pointed out that All State totally ripped of Geico with a talking guy. This led Pumpkin Head to change his choice to Progressive. Monkey on the other hand felt that Geico was the best choice not only because of the cute British Gecko, but because they also used to have the Cavemen in their commercials.

Wow, what a way to start the morning, and without even a cup of coffee! It got me to thinking about the affect commercials have on young minds. When I was a kid I didn't have the options of viewing that my children have. I had either PBS, Saturday Morning Cartoons or Brady Bunch re-runs. PBS never had commercials, but I remember SMC being jammed packed with advertisements for toys (my personal faves were ones about Barbie). Overall, that's about it when it came to commercial exposure. My kids, however, have a huge selection of shows on channels designed specifically for them that run all day and all night. Their ad exposure is, well, it's obscene!

It's not that my kids are watching twenty four hours of television either. They really don't watch that much. They would rather be playing with each other or reading (I'm not making that up, really, they like to read). You see, the same commercials run over and over and over again. Honestly, I think if some catastrophe happened and all commercials, especially infomercials, were erased my kids could recite them word for word solving the advertisement crisis.

Over time, I really started to see the influence these 30 second spots had on my kids. Once, I was complaining about my back hurting and Pumpkin Head told me I should get a sleep by numbers bed. He told me his father and I could even have our own favorite numbers set at the same time. Not only that, I could try it for free for like a month! It wasn't just sleep by numbers. Queenie noticed the plants were droopy, she told me I should get an aqua globe. Monkey suggested I get a Snuggie after noticing that because I was reading a book, my arms weren't covered by the blanket (this advice I did follow). Boy, those ad execs are sure smart! They've got the kids marketing their products for them! Really, take a look yourself! Have you ever noticed the amount of infomercials on channels like Disney, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon? Turn it on one day, in fact make a tally. You will be shocked!

Of course there aren't just infomercials. There are other ads too, like for car insurance. I love how these people think ahead. Oh and let's not forget the fast food commercials. My kids are all about collecting everyone of the crappy little toys from every joint in town. Of course this never happens because that is one ad that mom doesn't buy into!

I'm not in denial. I know that is what our society is all about. Consumerism. As adults we buy into it all the time, literally. It just makes me a little sad that my kids are doing it way ahead of schedule. Thinking about products they need for their future adult selves. Nothing like starting them off young. All I can say is thank God for DVR! I think from now on I'll be taping all the programs my children love. That way I can stick it to the man! I can fast forward through all the junk!