Turning Off the Ultimate Marketing Machine

Karen Lewis

Program Director

TV-Turnoff Network

Television is the greatest delivery device for advertising that has ever been invented.  It is hard to begin to address the commercial exploitation of children as long as our children are watching over a thousand hours of television time each year.  Television programming exists to deliver viewers to advertisers.

There are two primary ways to effect television advertisers’ access to children:  From the top – through government regulation, or through voluntary industry agreements; and  from a grassroots perspective.  A combined approach is likely to be most effective.  Other countries can model both regulatory successes and meaningful voluntary agreements.  The first amendment to the US constitution need not preclude consideration of the public interest beyond the marketplace, or the legal history of the special status of children in society.

TV-Turnoff Week is an effective grassroots movement to encourage people to watch no TV for one week every year, to re-evaluate the role that TV plays in their lives.  17,000 volunteer organizers plan TV-Turnoff Week events at the local level, and 7 million people have participated in TV-Turnoff Week over the past ten years.  Reducing TV time significantly diminishes advertisers’ access to children.

Karen Lewis (klewis@tvturnoff.org) is the Program Director for TV-Turnoff Network, a non-profit organization that encourages children and adults to watch less TV in order to promote healthier lives and communities. TV-Turnoff Network is best known for organizing TV-Turnoff Week each year, and will be celebrating the Tenth Annual TV-Turnoff Week this year, April 19-25.