Chicago Now blogger Carrie Goldman shared this story
Goldman’s daughter Katie was eating a bowl of Special K, read on the box that eating Special K for breakfast can help you lose weight and cheerfully proclaimed she was losing weight. Katie just started second grade. Goldman writes:
“Let’s put aside the fact that Katie has already absorbed the knowledge that it is a good thing to “weigh less,” as evidenced by her reaction to reading the back of the box. That alone is disturbing at such a young age. My bigger concern was how completely she accepted the statement put before her, without question.”
Goldman then went to the experts to find out the best way to talk to kids about advertising and sat down with Katie, explaining that ads distort facts and use marketing tricks in order to get customers. After their talk, Goldman forgot about the issue until…
