Question

Abercrombie & Fitch have been criticized for advertising explicit sex in their clothing catalogues which are targeted to teenagers. But teens are also influenced by advertisements online and through social media. Where do you think companies should "draw the line" with questionable advertising when it comes to targeting teenagers? Write 2 paragraphs and give some examples to support your opinion

Answer 1

Marketing to teenagers has been a debate between rights and wrongs. The question that comes up is where to draw the line. There have been many advertisements which appear to take advantage of child’s inability to make right choice. I will take two examples here to bring in the perspective.
These days, there are advertisements on radio (in city) that uses a child to market a residential apartment in Panvel. The ads bring out how the child is insisting on buying the apartment in the residential complex and forces his choice on his parents. Another ad of the same product, has the child feeling that since his sister is born, he may have to share his room with her and expects his parents to upgrade from a 2BHK apartment to 3 BHK. Essence of both these ads is aggression and absence of family value (not sharing with his sibling). The ethical boundary is left to be drawn by the reader.
In another set of examples, for Road safety initiative in Paris, radio ads inform parents (who are drivers) to go back to their basics of road safety. Here the ad talks about a child accompanying their parents asking them to follow safety on roads. Another example is of Power and Fuel Conservation, where teenagers in the ad ask their parents to conserve fuel for their future. Both these ads had positive essence in marketing to teenagers.
How should marketing professionals identify the line to be drawn while selling their products to teenagers? In absence of formal regulations in some countries, it becomes corporate responsibility to ensure responsible marketing to teenagers. Seven major food and beverages in the country have come together to announce a common commitment to market responsibly to teenagers.