www.whyville.net Jun 13, 2003 Weekly Issue



Kirbie393
Times Writer

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Kirbie393 here. I'm not sure if any of you noticed, but lots of scandals have been taking place in our media lately. Not good ones, but horrible ones, including the issue of advertising things to children.

This first came to my attention when I opened my monthly copy of Teen People. There was a page advertising non-smoking, as usual. But this one was different. It showed people on a beach looking up at a large billboard painted like an actual document from a tobacco industry. I believe it was titled "How to recover from anti-smoking." There were ideas such as, "Make smoking legal to children." and "Hand out free cigarettes." Another, smaller sign said, "This is an actual document from a tobacco company. This is what we know. Imagine what we don't." Since then I've been seeing all sorts of those ads in Teen People.

Did you know that tobacco industries are actually using a different form of subliminal message? Ever walked into a gas station or something, only to see a sign that says something like, "It is illegal to sell tobacco to children under 19 years of age." or "Smoking is a choice for adults, not children." Studies show that tobacco industries only did this as a way to target children, making them feel like they're written off as 'too young'.

Smoking isn't the only problem. There are also sexual issues. Have you seen one of the reports on many news stations about children and online sex? I'm sure you've probably heard of it before, too. And as Jill20 said in her article Subliminal Messages, Disney is even advertising it. What's happening to our society?

Kirbie, over and out, urging you to watch for the signs.


Editor's Note: I'm curious what study found some of this information. The way I understood it, the government required those signs in the gas stations -- was I mistaken? It's possible that the *result* was not what they sought, but I don't know if we should believe they did it with that intention, not without proof.

As for Disney, there was a rumor that the incidents noted by Jill20 in her article were created by disgruntled artists.  You should all research this so you know for certain.

 

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