Advertising

Summary

Ask the Mediatrician: Advertising

Podcast: Ask the Mediatrician
Hosts: Dr. Michael Rich (“The Mediatrician”), Kristelle Lavallee
Date: October 24, 2019
Episode Theme: How to explain advertising and media influence to young children, helping parents foster media literacy and critical thinking in a world dominated by ads and media content.

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Episode Overview

This episode of Ask the Mediatrician addresses a powerful challenge for modern parents: teaching children—particularly young ones—how to understand and critically engage with advertising and media messages. Prompted by a listener’s question about his five-year-old son associating Coca Cola with Olympic athletes, Dr. Michael Rich and Kristelle Lavallee break down why young children are highly impressionable, discuss the nature of advertising, and offer practical advice for parents to build essential media literacy skills from a young age.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Question Sets the Stage

• Listener Adam’s Dilemma (01:02 – 02:41): Adam’s five-year-old son believes drinking Coca Cola will make him a great boxer, after seeing Olympic athletes in TV ads. Adam wants advice on how to explain advertisements to young children.
• Kristelle shares a personal anecdote about a classmate who believed Gatorade commercials and tried to "sweat lime green," highlighting how persuasive ads can be for children.

2. Why Advertisements Are So Powerful—Especially During Sports Events

• Olympics and Commercialization (02:41 – 03:26): Dr. Rich observes,

  “Even the Olympics, the amateur competition, have become increasingly commercialized. ... Only the big corporations have that [sponsorship] power, so many athletes accept endorsements.”

• Live Programming = Captive Audience (03:45):

  “Advertisers know when they've got an active, engaged audience ... sports and other live events are great for advertising.”
  (Dr. Rich, 03:45)

3. Children Under Six: Cognitively Vulnerable to Ads

• Lack of Understanding 'Persuasive Intent' (04:18 – 05:05):

  “Kids under the age of six haven't yet developed the cognitive capacity to understand persuasive intent… They see commercials with the same equivalency as what they see in the program material.”
  (Dr. Rich, 04:18)

• Example: Children think cartoon creators are sincerely recommending sugar cereals or toys.

4. Parenting Strategies: Conversation, Critical Thinking, Repetition

• Engage Directly with Ads (05:30 – 06:01):
  Dr. Rich recommends that parents:
  • Watch ads with children.
  • Ask open-ended questions:
    • What caught your attention?
    • Was it the colors, music, celebrity?
    • How does the ad make you feel?
    • Who made the ad and why?
    • What are they selling?
• Guiding Understanding Even If It's Incomplete (06:01 – 07:02):

  “He’ll need to do this again and again because his son’s neurodevelopment needs to catch up. ... By breaking these advertisements down together ... being critical viewers and critical thinkers ... it’s not only understanding it, but understanding that all of that material is made by someone with an intent to make him behave somehow, to manipulate him.”
  (Dr. Rich, 06:10)

5. Media Literacy: A Lifelong Skill

• Fostering Early Critical Skills (07:12):

  “By engaging his son early in scrutinizing ads, Adam is actually setting his son up for success and thinking critically about all the media messages he sees in the future.”
  (Dr. Rich, 07:12)

• Deconstruction Applies Beyond Ads (08:17):

  “Once his son has figured out ... that drinking Gatorade is not going to make him sweat green, he can realize ... when he sees a famous movie star who he would love to emulate pick up a cigarette and smoke it, he’s able to break that down as well.”
  (Dr. Rich, 08:17)

6. Brands Are Becoming Ever More Subtle

• Brand Integration in Program Material (08:13):
  Kristelle and Dr. Rich touch on the increasing trend of brands embedded within shows and movies, making the need for critical viewing even more urgent.

7. The Ultimate Parental Goal

• Long-Term Impact (09:08 – 09:12):

  “Make sure that your end goal here is to have your son begin to assess on a case by case basis in every case of the media he consumes, who is creating that message and how they want that message to change his behavior.”
  (Dr. Rich, 09:08)

  • Adam’s efforts now can help protect his son from falling for misleading messages in both childhood ("oversaturating himself in Gatorade") and adolescence ("with vaping in his high school years").

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dr. Rich on Media Literacy:

  “We seek out media for the ways that they change us and the ways that we can share that experience.” (07:57)

• On Parenting and Ads:

  “You can harness your son’s natural rebelliousness against being told what to do or how to do it and engage that with his critical thinking.” (06:46)

• Kristelle’s Middle School Story:

  “My classmate thought that if he drank enough Gatorade, he would sweat lime green. So he drank it. He oversaturated himself. He made himself sick.” (01:19)

• Final Advice:

  “Enjoy your media and use them wisely and make sure you don't let them make you do things you wouldn't otherwise do and enjoy your son and raise him to believe what you believe about the media.” (09:51)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:12 — 01:02: Introduction; Dr. Rich and Kristelle outline the episode’s topic and present Adam’s question.
• 01:02 — 02:41: Listener’s story and Kristelle’s personal Gatorade anecdote.
• 02:41 — 05:05: Commercialization of the Olympics; understanding why ads are so powerful, especially for young kids.
• 05:05 — 07:02: Discussion on children’s cognitive development and inability to recognize persuasive intent; how parents can start media literacy conversations.
• 07:02 — 08:13: Laying the groundwork for media literacy; the benefits of repeated engagement and critical thinking.
• 08:13 — 09:12: Explaining product placement and extending critical analysis to all media content.
• 09:12 — 10:08: Closing thoughts and advice for parents.

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Practical Takeaways for Parents

• Actively Watch With Your Child: Use every ad as a teachable moment.
• Ask Questions: Engage your child in conversation about what they see, hear, and feel.
• Recognize Developmental Limits: Young children won’t grasp “selling” right away, but ongoing dialogue builds readiness.
• Foster Critical Thinking: Teach children to always consider who made the message and why.
• Model and Share Your Values: Encourage your child to question and talk about media, not just passively consume it.

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For more on media literacy and healthy media use, visit: askthemediatrician.org

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“No caregiver is alone in their questions.”
– Dr. Michael Rich (00:00)

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End of summary.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, it's Dr. Michael Rich, the mediatrician. I'm a practicing pediatrician, a child health researcher, and a lifelong filmmaker who understands how powerfully screens engage and change us. As a doctor who takes care of kids every day, I, I understand how they struggle with the screens in their world, from the smartphones in their pockets to the televisions and computers that surround them. And I also understand the concern that parents have that the media kids use and how they use them may be affecting their physical, mental and social health. So I'm trying to bring together these two worlds to understand with you and for you how to raise healthy, happy, productive children in in a world filled with digital screens. Mediatrix educator Christelle Lavallee joins me here each week to address your questions.

[B]

Yes, I do. Thank you, Michael. This question was sent to us in the middle of some summer fun from Adam, a dad in the United States. Adam writes, my five year old son's summer camp is studying the Olympics, a topic he is very interested in. We've been seeing many billboards and TV commercials with athletes promoting Coca Cola. The first time he saw one, he literally said, oh, if I drink Coca Cola, then I can be a great boxer too. Of course, I was disturbed by his reaction and started to talk with him about advertisements. We'd love some advice on how to explain advertisements to young children. So Adam, thank you for this question. I actually think it's a great question because we all fall prey to ads at one time and another. And Michael, before we get started, I just want to share this, this anecdote that this question brought to my mind. When I was in middle school, one of my classmates made himself sick off of the sports drink Gatorade. I don't know if you remember, Michael, but they used to have these commercials where you'd see the athlete and usually it was a basketball player and he'd be pound in the Gatorade and then they would sweat out the colors, right? So Gatorade is in that neon orange and green. And they'd be drinking so much of it and they'd be performing so well and they'd be sweating it out. And my classmate thought that if he drank enough Gatorade, he would sweat lime green. So he drank it. He oversaturated himself. He made himself sick. And needless to say, he had to go to the nurse. He didn't play that great. And his mom then later on had to have a conversation with him about advertisements too. So what can we say to Adam to help him out here?

[A]

Well, Adam's Question reflects the unfortunate fact that even the Olympics, the amateur competition, have become increasingly commercialized. Not only because they are capturing an estimated 4 billion viewers, half of the world's population, that's a lot. But because the Olympics themselves, the Olympics athletes themselves often need the resources with which to prepare and get to the games. And only the big corporations have that. So subsequently, many athletes accept endorsements or support from companies that require that they integrate recognition, recognizable brands in their gear or perform in commercials like the boxer drinking an iconic American soft drink that I won't rename here.

[B]

Thank you. And I have to say that unlike other TV shows that we might be able to get commercial free through streaming services, which is the only thing I watch now, the Olympics and sports in general still have ads. Even when you stream, there's no getting around it. You know, every time I watch a game, there's an ad.

[A]

And yeah, the advertisers know when they've got an active, engaged audience for these programs, audiences that won't step away for fear they'll miss something important. So sports and other live events are great for advertising. What Adam is facing when it comes to his five year old son is a critical problem for all children his son's age or younger, and a greater problem even than adults have, which is that kids under the age of six haven't yet developed the cognitive capacity to understand persuasive intent.

[B]

What's that?

[A]

Well, they see commercials with the same equivalency as what they see in the program material. So for example, on early morning cartoons on Saturday, they think the nice people who created these great stories and cartoons for them are also cluing them into this wonderful sugar cereal or this wonderful toy as a favor to them. It's all one and the same. So they don't understand, understand that they're being persuaded to buy, or more accurately, to nag their parents to buy those products. So you and I still need some work always to recognize how silly it is to show an athlete guzzling a sugar and caffeine loaded beverage.

[B]

Yeah, that's a good point.

[A]

But Adam's son doesn't have that neurodevelopmental capacity to do that yet. His brain just isn't there. So he draws an immediate association between the athlete and the soda.

[B]

Okay, so given where his son's brain is, you know, at the five year old stage, what can Adam say to him about those athletes that he sees drinking sports drink and drinks and winning gold medals in all the matches?

[A]

Well, Adam can talk to his son directly about the Ads they see together, when they are watching ads, ask him what, why they caught his attention. Was it the colors, the music, the celebrity, the funny cartoon? And ask his son how the ad makes him feel. Does it make him feel happy, excited, or like he wants something he saw next? They can figure out who made that ad and what their intention was in making that ad. What are they selling?

[B]

So even though he doesn't understand persuasive intent, his father can kind of allow him to understand it, you know, to kind of guide that learning.

[A]

Right, right, exactly. And he'll need to do this again and again because his son's neurodevelopment needs to catch up with it. But here's something that can really help by breaking these advertisements down together and really rethinking them through a critical mind, being critical viewers and critical thinkers, not only will it help him deal with commercials, but any information he receives, and it's not only understanding it, but it's understanding that all of that material is made by someone with an intent to make him behave somehow, to manipulate him. And so Adam can harness his son's natural rebelliousness against being told what to do or how to do it and engage that with his critical thinking.

[B]

I love that. So it really, you know, as you're saying this, it sounds like Adam will be laying the groundwork for his son to d some of those wonderful media literacy skills.

[A]

Absolutely. And by engaging his son early in scrutinizing ads, Adam is actually setting his son up for success and thinking critically about all the media messages he sees in the future. Yeah, ads are by nature of being very short and very pointed in their intention to make you do something are much easier to break down than, for example, program material, which also makes you want to do something. So Gone with the Wind, makes you want to cry, makes you want to laugh. We seek out media for the ways that they change us and the ways that we can share that experience. So with commercials, he can teach him to deconstruct and critically think about all the media he sees. And here's an interesting thing that is now being done, which is that brands are placing their brands in program material.

[B]

Oh, I've seen this. Tell us more.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

I feel like I know all about this.

[A]

Once his son has figured out in that 15 second commercial that drinking Gatorade is not going to make him sweat green, he can realize that when he sees a famous movie star who he would love to emulate pick up a cigarette and smoke it, he's able to break that down as well. And realize that. And realize that smoking is not what makes you famous, but that someone put those two things together to manipulate him to thinking that. So Adam, make sure that your end goal here is to have your son begin to assess on a case by case basis in every case of the media he consumes, who is creating that message and how they want that message to change his behavior. Reaching for this goal will help your son acquire early media literacy skills that he can build on and reinforce throughout

[B]

his life and hopefully prevent him from oversaturating himself in Gatorade during those middle

[A]

school years or with vaping in his high school years.

[B]

He can only hope so thank you Adam for your great question. Here's hoping that the rest of your son's summer camp and the Olympics are worthy of a gold medal. And for you, our beloved listeners, you can find more information on this and many other topics related to healthy media and all of the science behind them at askthemediatrician.org you can also follow our very own Mediatrician on Twitter Mediatrician and submit Your own question aththemediatrician.org thank you so much for listening. Please join us again and share and subscribe to this podcast.

[A]

Enjoy your media and use them wisely and make sure you don't let them make you do things you wouldn't otherwise do and enjoy your son and raise him to believe what you believe about the media.

[C]

Ask the Mediatrician is hosted by Dr. Michael Rich, joined by Mediatrix educator Christelle Lavallee. Jill R. Kavanaugh is our Chief Knowledge Officer. Original music composed by Christopher Cerf Podcast and music recorded, mixed and edited at Saturn Sound Studios Executive Producer Alicia Heywood.

[D]

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[E]

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