Of Advertising and Youth…. - January 4, 2008
Olive Garden is currently running a contest asking kids to write an essay detailing their favorite family activity. The winner gets a trip to New York and (gasp!) the opportunity to eat at Olive Garden in Times Square!
My son, sweet and innocent boy that he is, has painstakingly crafted an essay detailing how much he loves to walk the dog with the family…how “exuberant” it makes him feel. My daughter on the other hand, an advertising account executive in the making, has written that (surprise!) going to Olive Garden is her favorite family activity (!) because of their “delicious soups” and “excellent service” and, well, because “when you’re here you are family”!
I’m pretty sure the folks at Olive Garden will see through her thinly veiled attempt at currying favor but, in reviewing her essay before I shipped it off, it dawned on me how much my kids – and a lot of their friends – speak and think in “Ad Speak”. My kids frequently spout off ad slogans and hum ad jingles. Lots of times when we see a certain store or corporate logo, both are quick to sing the corporate jingle…or repeat the corporate slogan.
I guess that’s a good thing. I mean, companies spend millions of dollars to sear their respective brands into the minds of the buying public. And it would probably warm many a CEO’s heart to hear 10 and 12 year olds singing the company line….after all, they’re future customers!
We hear about companies being chastised for targeting children in their advertising. How they’re manipulating kids for cash. But as a parent of two who watch very little TV, I can tell you messaging is EVERYWHERE…and people are picking it up – whether they know it or not.
Clients often complain that they don’t think the advertising is working because they don’t see immediate results….but maybe the ads are effective in a different way. Adults may not respond immediately because they’re too distracted with other things…BUT every adult who’s gone past a fast food restaurant, movie theatre or toy store with children in tow knows that kids know EXACTLY what’s going on with advertising and hounds that adult until he or she breaks down and buys something.
I wonder if this was what the Law of Unintended Consequences was all about…