Catch them young is the new advertising mantra. Most of the advertisements especially in
television are targeted to children. Today they are bombarded with powerful advertising
messages from various media which are designed to win their mind and heart. Adults
have lifelong experiences, the advantage of age backed with education as filters to
navigate these powerful advertising messages but children don’t. For them advertising is
every where, all the time in school at home at shopping mall and in parks. From the time
they get up early in he morning till the time they go to sleep they are communicating with
thousands of brands through advertisements. They are growing up watching television
commercial, listening jingles, playing videogames. Answers to why marketers and
advertisers want to catch them young are many. Children are growing faster. They are
tagged as KGOY- Kids grow up young as they have more access to answers to their
queries with different forms of media.1
They have more personal power, more money,
influence and attention than any other generation. No other generation has ever had a
much disposable income as this one. That is why this emerging generation has become
powerful enough to have a specific allotment in every marketer’s budget. This paper
focuses on why children are the target of many advertising campaigns, How they react to
advertising messages, What are the emerging advertising strategies adopted by the
advertisers to woo younger generation, the ethical standards followed by the advertisers
and the corporate social responsibility initiatives taken by the advertisers.