Would you let your child be the protagonist of an advertising campaign? It can be the dream of many parents and children, or their worst nightmare, of children or adults.
I do not believe that there is a single answer for all cases, as there are examples as different as a local campaign of a charitable nature to a multinational promotion that requires time, displacements and a significant economic benefit. Not to mention the different formats and advertising media.
In any case, we all have a rough idea of whether we would let our son star in an advertising campaign or not. These reflections arise precisely from the comments to the post about an announcement starring a baby that had caused quite a stir ...
In the blog we know that many parents want their children to be part of advertising campaigns, we receive emails that they think go to an advertising company or magazine. The emails are usually sent by moms who tell us about the excellence of their babies or children and even sometimes with pictures of the little ones.
The real castings are full especially of mothers who take their children to see if they can be the new face of some product, that appear on television, in print advertising, in cinema (although we are already entering another area) and that pass to Be, if not famous, popular, visible.
Children may be more or less aware of this fact.. If they are babies, they obviously do not go or come and simply "let them do." When they grow up, they will have something to say, they will more or less like the hustle and bustle of the selections and the subsequent "work" if they are selected to star in a campaign. We should not forget how children live advertising.
Because, after all, they will be working, right? They will make a greater or lesser effort, for them it will be more or less fun, but after all they work for their parents. Although I imagine that many would do it for free (perhaps for the purpose of making the leap later to another level where they can charge?).
What would we do if they offered to advertise
I don't know if I would let my daughters star in an advertising campaign. I have never seen myself in that situation nor have I been looking for it, so I hardly have to face the decision one day. But as we are to share reflections, I will put myself in several assumptions.
If one day someone came and said “What a beautiful girl, we are looking for something like this for our advertising campaign”, after the “scare” I would ask for all possible information: what kind of campaign, in what formats, for what product, where would I have it? what to do, for how long it would be in force, how the girl would have to appear or what she would have to do, and how much they would pay for it.
The next step, if the proposal still seems good to me (and for that, for example, I would not have to assume displacements or miss school days; this already eliminates the great campaigns nationwide, among others), would be to speak with my daughter, explain what it is and ask if you would like to do it.
If she were my little daughter, I would say no, because she cannot understand what it is and for me the final decision (once "supervised" the above) should be taken by them. This evidently, if it were widespread, it would leave us without ads for diapers, breastfeeding, carts ... mostly starring babies.
I imagine (I'm just imagining) that for them it would be like a game, almost all children love to “pose” for photos. Then and only then would I let my daughter be the protagonist of an advertising campaign.
Regarding money, I probably would not have influence if it is a charity campaign with which I identify (that is, it could be done for free). If not, it would be money for them, for the future. What father would not like to have some savings available for his children.
Although we could also reply that the savings for the future of the children must be earned by the parents (and in that we are, right?) And that the children should not work. Of course, we are not talking about a “job” like the one that unfortunately many children do miserably in many places and do not even have a decent reward. In this case, I think it would be like a game (if they see it that way).
Another thing is to make advertising a way of life, become obsessed with it (this is not done by children but by parents) and "squeeze out" the childhood of children with the aim of making them famous and rich, turn our frustrations on them and our desires of transcendence, so to speak.
Anyway, I would like to know if you would let your children be the protagonists of an advertising campaign, that we saw their faces on large advertising posters, in magazines, or watched them act on television. If you would put any requirement, if it is your dream or you would never allow it.
Photos | SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, pattista and Deborah Leigh (Migraine Chick) on Flickr-CC
In Babies and more | "My dad ... comes looking for me" and what really matters in life, Breastfeeding advertising: give me a T, give me an E, give me a T ..., Child Marketing
