Christmas wish lists corrupted by big toy companies' ad blitz

Christmas wish lists corrupted by big toy companies' ad blitz

By SEAN POULTER, Last updated at 10:40am on 6th December 2006

All I want for Christmas: is, apparently, whatever is shown in the most ads on TV - such as these Bratz dolls, the street-wise version of Barbie

The Christmas lists sent to Santa by millions of children are being corrupted by the TV advertsing blitz of the big toy companies.

Psychologists have discovered a direct correlation between the number of times a particular toy is advertised and whether it features on a child's wish list.

Girls, it is claimed, are particularly being targeted by commercials for toys such as the Barbie doll and her street-style rival the controversial Bratz dolls.

Boys are being effectively brainwashed to want Hot Wheels and Scalextric racing car games, it is claimed.

TV advertising rules specifically state that companies should not use commercials to get children to pester their parents to buy a product for them.

However, this is exactly what is happening when youngsters influenced by TV commercials fill out a list of presents they want in a letter to Santa.

Girls as young as four are being influenced by the marketing hard sell for big brands, according to experts at the University of Hertfordshire.

Researchers found that youngsters are bombarded by an average of 38 commercials for toys and games every hour on children's TV in the run-up to Christmas.

Dr Karen Pine and Penny Wilson conducted in-depth interviews with 98 children, aged between six and eight years.

The children told the researchers how much television they watched, when and which channels they preferred viewing.

At the same time they monitored which toys were being advertised across the TV networks and how often. They then looked at the children’s letters to Santa and conducted an analysis to see the extent to which they featured advertised toys.

They concluded: "Children who watched a lot of television, e.g. more than 2 hours per day, asked Santa for more of the toys they had seen on TV.

"Some children listed as many as 18 different items they wanted.

"Children who watched commercial channels asked for significantly more advertised items than children who preferred to watch non-commercial channels."

The team found adverts that targeted girls appeared far more frequently than those aimed at boys. Consequently, girls also asked Santa for more advertised toys than boys.

Other research by Dr Pine has also found that girls are more aware of big brands which are heavily advertised than boys from the age of four.

Dr Pine said: "Our research shows that children’s choices are heavily influenced by what they see on television.

"By age six children are absorbing persuasive television messages and making consumer choices, even to the extent of telling Santa to buy it from Toys ‘R’ Us or Argos!

"The heavy targeting of girls is particularly worrying. It suggests that girls are more actively encouraged to become consumers from an early age."