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Advertisements are directed towards a future consumer, getting them interested into buying what the advertisement is offering. But kids are the golden grail of advertisers. They are the ultimate peer pressure on the part of the population in society that is immune to peer pressure. ” Parents! ”

Kids have the unique way of placing an advertisement directly in front of parents in an unavoidable way. Advertisers know that parents are trying to avoid conflict in public places, so will often advertize products to kids, who in turn will complain to parents, ” I want that!”. Maybe kids are singing a jingle from some advertisement they have heard. Two all beef paddies, special sauce, onions, pickles, lettuce, on a sesame seed bun! Who doesn’t remember that great one? Yet a parent who is trying to get some shopping done, with kids who are singing this jingle, is or will be completely influenced to perhaps stopping by the McDonald for some happy meals.

The parent who doesn’t stop off at McDonald’s is just abusive, in the eyes of their kids. ” We are hungry! ” The kids are informing their parents. Then start to sing loudly. Two all beef paddies, special sauce, onions, pickles, lettuce, on a sesame seed bun.

” I know. But have to finish up shopping. I will make you something when we get home. Okay?” A likely parents response.

” We will be starved by then! We want to eat at McDonald’s!”

“I know, but we have…”

” You don’t love me!” Followed by some wining, or the beginning stages of crying.

People start looking your way, wondering what all the complaining is all about?

People are starting to look at the scene. Parents are getting the peer pressure. Parents are looking for a way to teach kids patients, then trying to get them to stop wining, then disciplining them. Because tantrums aren’t allowed! All the while trying to keeping up appearances with the public. In the back of their minds, their trying to get the shopping finished up without spending too much money. Finlay, these thoughts change. Giving in to spending money as the ultimate pacifier to get their kids fed, and quieted down, all at the same time! Parental stress reliever! advertisements success! Pure gold for the company’s behind the advertisement and the company who came up with the advertisement campaign.

Kids aren’t even getting paid for the efforts they are doing for the advertisers. Getting parents to separate themself’s from their money. It is funny how as kids we my not have understood just how big of a roll we played, as our part in advertisements. Yet when we all become adults and then parents we fall for the same games that are being now played out on us! Why do we fall for these pressures from advertisers? It’s not the products advertised! It’s the public opinions about our parenting skills!

Advertisements that impact kids with a catchy jingles, which influences sales of products. May also influence products being tested by the very people, who also help drive sales for them. Kids!

I was one of those kids! The kind that when I saw an advertisement who said that I can stand on something and it doesn’t do anything to it at all! Just to show some unrealistic abusive ways of products and how their products was all so durable. Seeing this I had my doubts. I must test this out myself, the next time I see it in the store. Call me a doubting Thomas. But I was a hands on kind of person. True to form, product testing I did! My mom would scold me… ” You can not do those things in the store!” But My thoughts were, or maybe even my response was to my mom. ” Well then don’t advertise it, like that then!”

For my mom, the fear was I was going to take it to far someday. But that was the crazy talk, that my mom would let escape from her mouth from time to time. Well …. Mom was right!

Do you all remember the ” Wonder Bread “ advertisements of yesterday? The ones where Mr. Wonder, would come out and be re-stacking the wonder bread display in some store. He would then be over taken, by just how soft and airy the bread would feel as he was stacking it up. He would then gently give the bread a squeeze. The cartoon bread loaf would give a giggle and tell him ” fresh and soft “, as it would, all cartoon like bounce back to the orignal form. This was the likable advertisement that appealed to kids, who would then get parents to buy the bread. My mom did buy the bread once, much to my encouragements. The bread was light and airy, and did bounce back from a genital squeeze. But it was not filling at all. Too much air in it I guess. You could compress the slice to about one-quarter of an inch square in size. I used to pop 3 or 4 small bread marbles into my mouth at once, no problem! I wasn’t one of those bulldog mouthed kind of kids. Just saying!

The advertisement in my eyes was false advertisement then. The bread was described as light and airy, but so are balloons! But I’m not going to eat balloons. A gentil squeeze, and it will bounce back? Will other breads do this as well? In my mind there were to many questions that yet had to be answered. I started to lay down my plans for the next time we go shopping then. I was determined to find out which one of these questions was false, and which ones were true. You know! Getting your moneys worth was look upon as a good thing from my parents. I was trying to be a good helper to them.

I had this habit to go to the toy section of the store. My mom wasn’t going to buy me any of these toys but I could still play with them while she was shopping. My mom thought she would get the shopping done faster and I would be entertained at the same time. A win , win for everyone!

On this day there was the same understanding between mom and myself. I would play with the toys and she would be shopping. She would come back to the toys and pick me up when she was finished. I nod my head indicating that I understood the easy rules she had. But in my mind I also knew that I had some product testing to do. This required unsupervised testing opportunity’s. This was the time and the place, and now I also had the opportunity.

Mom disappeared down the long toy aisle, and then rounded the corner. She was gone! I gave it a few moments longer just incase she had some last minuet instructions for me. It was not to be on this day. Giving the appropriate time to make sure this wasn’t the case. I was off and running to find the bread.

Like a super spy, I rounded each aisle peering down the long aisle to see if this was the place where the bread was. But also to keep an eye out for mom and just where she could be as well. Getting busted was not fun! But I had watched plenty of Spy VS. Spy cartoons, to become quite a sneak. I also was wearing my super sneaky shoes as well, ” sneakers”. With a name like that I had it made in the shade. Being the most sneakily of all spy’s out there. Avoiding mom and the evil authority’s who only would spoil my mission. I found myself in front of the massive bread display cases. Looking over my shoulders, first one way then the other. I started the bread squeezing tests.

I grabbed the whole wheat bread in my little hands, and gave it a genital squeeze. But being a kid, and knowing that as seen on TV, was somewhat different in appearances, then in real life. I wondered ” Was that gentle? Just what was the meaning of genital?” So I gave it a little harder squeeze. Testing the bread like I saw it in the wonder bread advertisements, soon got old. They all seemed like the same. So then my super slooth mind gave way to answering the question of. ” How much gentle squeezing can a loaf of bread take, before the bread can not bounce back like the bread on TV?” A reasonable question for a kid. I knew that cartoon were not real. So you can’t really kill bread… can you?

When a kid is battling a cartoon like loaf of bread like wonder bread, and the company who makes bread with a name of ” Wonder ” in it. Shouldn’t some adult advertiser seen this coming? After all I was a super slooth and this bread was going to be tested and re-tested if necessary. Just so we all knew what super kind of bread ” Wonder bread ” would be like. If someone would put caned goods on top of it at the checkout, could it then bounce back? inquiring young minds had to know.

In the middle of my massive testing I heard this strange voice. ” NO! You are supposed to be playing in the toys!” My nerves were instantly shot! I was busted! I glanced over my shoulders to see mom all read faced and mad as hell and she wasn’t going to take it anymore! Mom on the other hand was looking at a war zone of sorts. Causality’s of bread every where. Some were strangled, some decapitated, some smushed to resemble a signal slice of bread. Still others looking like they were just two cats fighting in a plastic bag. If it were not for the big bright letters that spelled ” Wonder bread ” on the bag, your guess was as good as mine as to just what was in the bag. This was war after all. I was as the super slooth fighting fause advertizing. In the heat of battle I guess when fighting bread, one must love the smell of burning toast in the morning! Mom was burning my back side with her looking at me, and her assessments of the battle field casualty’s.

” Just what? How could you? You are in so much trouble!” Mom was trying to decide what to do. Gather up the casualty’s, or grabbing me up and running out of the store?

” Mom they show on TV the bread always bounces back with a gentle squeeze!” I offered up my best spy / slooth defence. The look she gave me just let me know without a shadow of a doubt I was still burnt toast.

Prehaps product testing should have been my calling in life? But The family story being told over and over never looses it’s fun, and always produces plenty of laughing. Followed by the questions of..” Is that a true story?” My mom usually responds with her best recreation of her look on that day, and then responding. Yes! Yes it is a true story! Just how he survived to become an adult, and how I kept from killing him is a miracle.

My response to my mom today is… ” War is hell! The advertizing of products should be put through a hell-of-a good testing in determining all clams of all sorts. Shouldn’t they? After all you can’t believe everything you see on TV advertisements!

All the best!

PS. disclaimer, Don’t try this in your store! It may result in eating something like bread, in every thing as I did for a long while. Bread in everything mind you! “Everything!!” Bread that no longer looks like bread either. But to all adults who are challenged with what to do with all of this kind of bread abuse. Breadcrumbs! And more Breadcrumbs, A life times worth! Sounds like a new cook book. Sorry for no pictures of the battle of bread. My mom wouldn’t let me recreate the battle scene for a pictorial spread. Maybe when no one is looking though! You never know?? Stay cartooned.

Cheers!