Advertising to kids has skyrocketed in recent years, resulting in their spending over $24 billion of their own money in 1997--and directly influencing the spending of $188 billion of their parents' money. This is not surprising considering that advertisers have been going to the experts--child psychologists--to learn how to best target children.
But Allen D. Kanner, Ph.D., associate faculty of the Wright Institute and a child, family and adult therapist in Berkeley, California, is uncomfortable with this professional relationship, believing that psychologists should not use their insights to help exploit children's fears and desires. With Gary Ruskin of Commercial Alert, a Washington-based advocacy group, Kanner has sent a letter to the American Psychological Association asking that this largest organization of psychologists discourage its members from contributing to the advertising industry. The letter, endorsed by 60 psychologists and other therapists, also requests that the APA amend its code of ethics and launch a campaign to educate the public about the ongoing abuse of psychological knowledge by the child advertising industry.
