In the mid-90s, mom Susan Linn became overwhelmed by marketing messages targeted to children. These pervasive advertisements were interfering with her life—at home and at work.

Linn, an instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Associate Director of the Media Center at Judge Baker Children's Center, co-founded the coalition Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children—recently renamed Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. A national organization, CCFC consists of healthcare professionals, educators, advocacy groups, and parents eager to "counter the harmful effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy, education, research, and collaboration among organizations and individuals who care about children."

Linn is also the author of Consuming Kids. In her book, Linn explores what advertisers call "the kid market." "Children are now the focus of a marketing maelstrom, targets for everything from minivans to M&Ms to counting books," says Linn. "All aspects of children's lives—their health, education, creativity, and values—are at risk of being compromised by their status in the marketplace."

As a mother and an activist, Linn has a goal: to raise public awareness about marketing to children.

Deception in Advertising

It may be hard for us to imagine that marketing executives are sitting in conference rooms brainstorming how to best target our small children. We would like to think that the messages infiltrating our homes have little to no effect on our children—after all, we hold the purse strings for young children. Our kids might see a commercial and excitedly ask us for the latest toy or video game, but we have the power to say no.

These marketing messages, however, are more insidious than we might think. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), "[C]hildren may be deceived by an image or a message that likely would not deceive an adult. For example, a ballerina doll was shown to pirouette on one toe unassisted in a TV ad; however, she could not perform in the playroom. Toy helicopters were depicted on TV as flying and hovering in mid air; in reality, the helicopters were suspended by monofilament wires attached to poles and manipulated by unseen people. . . . While an adult viewer might understand that special techniques were employed in such commercials, the child would expect the toy to perform as shown." (Source: "Advertising to Kids and the FTC: A Regulatory Retrospective That Advises the Present," by Howard Beales)