A report in the New York times about a new initiative by Disney to market to mothers raises some interesting questions, for me at least.
I am increasingly becoming convinced that one of the greatest threats to the church is the various effects of consumerism. Whenever we begin to think of ourselves primarily as consumers and only secondarily as humans made in the image of God, the results are always disastrous. So, reading that Disney is beginning an initiative to actively pursue the newborn and infant market concerns me. I don’t want to sound like I am picking on Disney here, because their actions are only representative of a larger culture of marketing which believes that it is appropriate to target ads towards the very young, people who are developmentally incapable of distinguishing between commercials and entertainment and discerning what is good from what is not. By getting a child to recognize and identify with specific brands while they were young, corporations can ensure future sales as the child grows.
Let me be clear that I’m not saying that it is somehow wrong to advertise or that cute footsie pajamas should not be made for infants. What I am saying is that we are a part of the culture that persuasively, powerfully, and unceasingly urges upon us the view that our identity is primarily shaped and defined by the things that we purchase and our ability to purchase. This worldview is not consistent with the Gospel, and so it is important for us to be discerning about the way we and our children view the things we buy and to question what effect it has on our children when we allow them to be marketed to at a very young age.
What kind of desires will these products or ads inculcate in our children? (Should our daughters desire to be princesses?) How will our children understand their identities in relation to these products? (Should they define childhood primarily by the kinds of toys they buy?).
Alan Noble (Co-Founder/Editor) is a graduate student at Baylor University pursuing his Ph.D. in Contemporary American Literature. To feed himself and his wife, he teaches Freshman Composition at the university. In 2006, he graduated from Cal. State Bakersfield with a Master’s degree in English. In addition to studying, teaching, and writing, Alan enjoys watching college basketball (Go Bears!) and NBA games with his wife and daughter, and loves Star Wars. While not particularly good at making art of any kind, Alan has an intense interest in the arts and culture and how believers ought to interact with them to the glory of God and edification of others. Alan lives in Waco, Texas with his Math-loving wife, owl-loving daughter, and their no-longer-able-to-skateboard-because-of-an-injury English Bulldog, Gertrude.
Email: noble.noneuclidean [at] gmail [dot] com
I don’t think this has anything to do with religion. It feels like you’re simply approaching it from the angle of “I have a hammer, everything must be a nail.”
This is a problem with materialistic thinking; something that can be a problem with or without religion. Ethics and morals are not restricted to religion. People need to have depth themselves not to be materialistic and allow others to sway them into “buy buy buy”. I question the ethics of generational “brain washing” (which companies have been doing for hundreds of years. Why do you think Apple gives such good deals on computers to schools?), but religion is not the solution to this problem. Careful thought is.
Israel,
Your complaint seems to be a complaint against the premise of this entire site, not my article. But, we can, if you’d like, discuss the value of interpreting materialism through a Christian framework.
But seriously, I’m really excited about Disney’s in utero campaign being launched next year. It’s a bit invasive, but we get free ultrasounds so I’m going to talk to Paige about it.
off topic, but i had to point out – “Should our daughters desire to be princesses?” Disney announced that they would not be making anymore princess movies after Tangled. The reason is that girls are more concerned about being “hot” than being princesses. I’d rather have a daughter wanting to be a princess than being obsessed about being hot.