Miranda says:

Little girl bikinis horrify my very soul. What happened to letting kids grow up?

Randy says:

Man, before I even read the post I saw the image and wondered “What the heck is he posting kiddie catalog pr0n to the site for?” I concur with you - the sickos are reacting to those images in a much different way than normal folks.

Gnomic says:

Sadly, the people behind this junk are the ones to suffer. I’m making more and more of an effort to not shop at companies that do stuff like this. It’s this soft of thing doesn’t work, they’ll stop doing it. I’m not starting a crusade, simply pointing out that the government banning stuff like this is probably a worse thing — especially with the Supreme Court ruling that the government can censor student expression off campus “because the act as parents” UH - NO. They are there to keep the kids safe and teach them - I don’t remember giving them the right to instill their values on my kids.

Why do I think I’m going to be sending my kids to a private school - once they get kicked out for telling the school to bugger off. And why is it that school board doesn’t require members to actually have an education?

Andrew says:

Reporters, as you may know, don’t get rich. (One handbook I read suggested marrying someone with a good job. :) That said, we pay to put my four year old in private school and will continue to do so for this very reason.

The place he goes allows teachers to hug the kids if they cry, teaches them to respect other kids and works with them if they don’t. And so on. We’re willing to make a significant sacrifice to keep him out of public school for all the reasons that Gap ad implies.

Oh, and Gnomic? If you don’t tell the places that sell that sort of thing that it bothers you, they’ll never know. But I guarantee a non-form letter to the right person will get noticed. They might think you’re one person out of millions, but they also know that for every one who writes there are a lot more who think the same thing.

I took 10 minutes once to create a Word “corp letter” template. When printed and folded, the address will show perfectly through a #10 window envelope. That way I can dash off a letter very quickly. Results are impressive, let me tell you.

Gnomic says:

I absolutly agree that you have to tell the company that you have a problem with them (as you have seen me do in other posts here).

I also wonder about that parents who put these kids in these “jobs.”

lionemom says:

Marketing to children is a real danger to our kids…BEING KIDS! I remember when I was a kid (I am now 37) there were some commercials for Hungry Hungry Hippo and Baby Alive, but they were not ALL the commercials between EVERY show I watched on afternoon TV. Has anyone here ever actually watched the Cartoon Network in the afternoon? It’s insanity! “Kids, this is what you NEED to have, tell your moms and dads that you have to have these things to be cool, even though, at 7 years old, cool doesn’t really exist yet.” It’s pervasive, it’s unnerving and it’s ANNOYING!

And then something like the ad above comes out. It’s somewhere between sexualizing and just trying to make them look like they think they are cool. Either way, the result is AWFUL! I don’t disagree with little girls bikinis (but what mom in their right mind would try to put TWO pieces of clothing on a small child when ONE would do just fine) but it’s the pose, the suggestion that they are cool little kids and that they are mature. It bothers me intensely.

Although I am not rabidly opposed to parents getting modeling work for their kids (if they remain sane and don’t make their chubby 8 year old go on a DIET) I would not do it myself, no matter how cute the baby or child was. Because I don’t support marketing to kids, and I am generally not a fan of advertising to begin with. I appreciate clever ads like the new DQ ones with the waffle bowl and the girl in the soft serve suit as much as the next guy. But if there were no commercials ever again, I wouldn’t miss them.

Andrew, please send me an address that I can write a letter of protest to. I assume you have one for this.

gnomic says:

My suggestion - turn off the TV. Or buy a recorder and only let the kids watch what you record (and edit) for them. Protesting advertising is like screaming at the wind. Its a waste of time because its not in thier best interest. I have a friend (nerd) that records everything, then he watches it and moves what he wants his daughter to see into an area where she can watch it on her computer.

Yeah, its a lot of work. But he isn’t trying to prevent anyone else from watching things. I salute him and hope I have the patence to do the same.

lionemom says:

I can write letters telling companies what I think of their advertising tactics. That is different than forming a group and protesting. I agree that would be pointless.

I totally agree with turning off the TV when I don’t like what’s on. That said, I was just voicing my opinion on how I feel about marketing and advertising that is targeted towards non-money-making, non-money-decision-making children. I think that NOT preventing the exposure of children to the whole mindset of advertising dictating tastes and desires is a bad decision. I think it can teach kids to rely on the babble box to tell them what and who they like and can inhibit them making those choices themselves.

Of course I realize that you can’t close Pandora’s Box and now that marketing and advertising are so prevalent in media, that will never significantly change. If things miraculously changed and I never saw or heard another commercial again, I would not be sad about it.

I am all for freedom of choice and not in favor of censorship. I am intelligent enough to be able to use discretion for myself and on behalf of my children, when I have them.

Thanks for your response, it helped me clarify the point I was trying to make.

Jimmy says:

I was looking for floor plans to the TV show Stargate SG-1 and I come across this picture.. I’m upset that they allow this. I see this on TV and I turn it off in disgust. I can’t understand how people can see this as OK. IT’S NOT !!!

Let children grow up. Let them play and be happy. Do NOT show them as a thing that of age Woman do to show off as SEX to sell their product !! Children should NEVER be in that kind of position !!!