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October 27, 2008
Contact: Josh Golin (857-241-2028;
josh<at>commercialfreechildhood.org)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CCFC to Toy Marketers: Leave Kids Alone during Economic
Crisis;
Companies Urged to Target Parents Instead this Holiday Season
As families struggle to cope with the
global economic crisis, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free
Childhood is urging major retailers and toy and game
manufacturers to suspend holiday marketing aimed at children and
to target parents instead. In a letter sent today to
twenty-four CEO’s, CCFC urged companies not to exacerbate family
stress by flooding children with ads for toys and games that
their parents may not be able to afford. CCFC also launched a
letter-writing campaign so that parents could share their
concerns directly with companies planning to market to children
this holiday season.
“It’s cruel for companies to dangle
irresistible ads for toys and electronics in front of children
when parents everywhere are worried about their financial future
and paying for necessities,” said CCFC’s Director Dr. Susan
Linn. “A barrage of holiday marketing will create unrealistic
expectations in children too young to understand the economic
crises and will make parenting in these uncertain times even
more difficult.”
Concerns about the economy are so great
that experts predict parents will spend less on toys and gifts
for children this holiday season. Reports indicate, however,
that spending on advertising to children will not reflect the
current economic downturn. CCFC’s letter warns that the
combination of commercial pressures on children with inevitable
belt-tightening by parents will create a tremendous burden for
many families.
Even in better economic times, buying
holiday gifts can be a considerable strain on family budgets. A
2005 poll found that approximately one-third of Americans took
more than three months to pay off their holiday credit card debt
and 14% carried credit card debt into the next holiday season.
“It is bad enough in normal times when
marketers bypass parents and encourage children to nag for
products,” said Dr. Linn. “But to do so during such a pervasive
economic downturn is unconscionable.”
CCFC is urging companies to adopt a
different approach. The letter states:
We understand the need to create awareness of your products. We
urge you to do that by advertising directly to parents instead
of enlisting children as lobbyists for their holiday gifts.
Since it’s parents, not children, who can truly understand their
family’s financial situation in these difficult times, it is
more important than ever that you respect their authority as
gatekeepers. Target parents instead of children this holiday
season.
The complete text of the letter can be
found at:
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/actions/lettertoceo.pdf.
The complete list of companies that
received the letter can be found here:
www.commercialfreechildhood.org/actions/holidaymarketers.htm.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free
Childhood (www.commercialfreechildhood.org)
is a national coalition of health care professionals, educators,
advocacy groups and concerned parents who counter the harmful
effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy,
education, research, and collaboration among organizations and
individuals who care about children.
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