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Roxana Martinez4AHarwardArgument EssayCompanies Targeting Our ChildrenTelevision commercials often target specific audiences by appealing to a person’s better nature. It has been alleged that alcohol and drug companies intentionally try and target younger audiences. The real question here is; should this be allowed? A study once published in the journal of The American Medical Association stated that 51.1% of 229 preschoolers correctly matched the Joe the Camel advertising logo to cigarettes. Yet only 48.9% of the same preschoolers identified the Walt Disney Company “ears” logo to Mickey Mouse. (Meaden, Mary B.)Parents often find it hard to keep up with the advanced technology the 21st century has brought, and to add on to worries tobacco and alcohol companies are finding various ways to attract more consumers to their products. The best place to start? No where else but with the newer more gullible generations. Companies will do their absolute best to get their product to sell regardless of who it is, and the best target is of course the youth. More than half of the time they will also deny this but we cannot be blinded by their tricks. Tobacco company ads are reaching teenagers and influencing their desire to smoke and what they choose, U.S. health officials report. … The industry will deny that they are marketing to underage youth, but our data are showing that the advertising is still reaching the kids. Each of the major cigarette companies in the United States has a leading youth brand, Pechacek said. “Industry documents show that all the tobacco companies are continuing to note that if they don’t have a leading youth brand, they are in corporate trouble.” (Reinburg) Commercials display images of living greatly and enjoying life to the maximum with an ice cold beer on the side or smoking a cigarette why? Because they know that there is not a single person out there who wouldn’t want to live that luxurious life. Adults might see this and not think much of it, but the younger kids are the ones who find it appealing and something they would want to do. This very well encourages underage drinking and smoking; think about it which kid wouldn’t like to live “the Good Life” that all these companies portray. Statistics show that currently there are about 10.8 million under-age drinkers in the United States. (Destillers Fighting Drunk Driving & Underage Drinking”)Studies prove that our brain continues to develop up until our mid twenties’, now imagine all the damage caused by these various “pass times”. Once the brain is exposed to drugs or alcohol, especially at a young age, it prevents it from its normal learning and developing which could possibly lead to permanent damage. It has been an established fact that actively drinking, alcohol dependent subjects especially at a younger age have smaller brain volumes than normal control subjects who do not drink alcohol. Early researchers assumed that this was because alcohol killed the brain cells of alcohol dependent subjects. (“”)Once companies start influencing the younger audiences they start becoming a potential threat. We try and get our kids to do what’s right, to learn the right choices once they are very small but what good will you receive when you are influencing your own child with severely dangerous things and/or the wrong choices in life. You might as well be purposely leading your child down the path of an unfulfilling life. When it comes to cigarettes you are basically handing your child cancer on a golden platter. Smoking damages your lungs’ natural cleaning and repair system and traps cancer-causing chemicals in your lungs. (“Lungs Association”)On the opposing side, of course the companies benefit from this they spend thousands sometimes even millions of dollars on making these commercials, putting advertisements, and making their companies known. They benefit greatly from all the new customers they receive. Tobacco and Alcohol companies make their money from people consuming their products regardless if the person is age appropriate or under age. It has been stated that alcohol companies make about 1- 2.5 million dollars a year. Not too mention tobacco companies who make around $150 billion a year. Tobacco and Alcohol companies should not be allowed to purposely target young audiences. Our children deserve to be raised in a healthy environment, an environment that is not filled with peer pressure or being influenced by all the wrong things. What these companies are doing is a crime; they are basically taking then our own children’s childhood away for their own personal and selfish needs. Most especially they are influencing law breaking and going against the rules. In no way should is it right for tobacco and alcohol companies to target our youth it is simply wrong and unethical. Works Cited"The Century Council." Destillers Fighting drunk driving & underage drinking. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan 2013. <;. "Myths and Facts about Alcohol Brain damage." . N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan 2013. <;. "Facts about smoking." The Lungs Association. N.p., 04 09 2012. Web. 11 Jan 2013 <;. Reinburg, Steven. "Tobacco companies targeting teens, study say." health.. N.p., 12 02 2009. Web. 11 Jan 2013. <;. ................
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