Is anyone else getting sick of the "cute kid" syndrome in television commercials lately?? Take for instance "Bob" the Quiznos baby. WTF?? He's creepy as hell, more annoying than Morton Downy on crack, and about as appealing as Spam on a saltine. Seriously, I would rather have the weird-ass singing hamsters back. "They got a pepper bar" Thank goodness they finally got rid of him. But, there are still so many annoying little kids in commercials.
Take for instance the one MANY sickeningly sweet cutesy kids from the Welches grape juice commercials:
Little pigtailed brunette girl: "Mom says she loves sharing her Welches white grape juice with the whole family, but I think she gets it just for herself.”
OK... so you think she gets it just for herself, yet your snot-nosed, selfish and inconsiderate little cakehole is still guzzling down the juice. Probably the ONE thing that mom indulges on for herself.
Another is the commercial for Universal Studios.
Another spoiled brat standing in front of a roller coaster: "If I had to kiss one more princess on my vacation, I was gonna hurl."
This kid is lucky to be on vacation to begin with. Her parents work their asses off all year just so she can have a little fun. But is she grateful? Does she say, “Gee thanks mom and dad!”? No, instead she complains.
When did poor behavior from children become acceptable? I get so frustrated as the media spins out more and more propaganda geared towards the acceptance of allowing kids to act like little jerk wads. Kids are not little adults. They should not be allowed to act like little adults, and parents need to get up off their asses and raise their kids. I know it is not the kids' fault. It's these parents who think they have to read a dozen self help books on parenting to raise their kids. Kids don't want to be left on their own to "find themselves". They need discipline and structure It does not take a village to raise a child, it takes good parenting. We are raising a nation of self centered, arrogant little jerks who have an exaggerated sense of entitlement. I feel sorry for them in a way. When they do reach adulthood, they are going to be slapped in the face with reality. How are they going to feel about their parents then?
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22 comments:
That Welches girl drives me crazy. She's cute, but gads, that voice!
I know what you mean about annoying ads that just use kids to sell stuff by them flaunting their cuteness. And I don't like the Quizno's "baby" either. I saw a Discovery Channel show about this phenomenon, called neogeny. There are certain characteristics of babies that we subconsciously find endearing and of course marketers like to tap into this.
As for real kids today, it does seem like they are coddled and given everything they want so they feel entitled. But there are some good kids out there. I never know what presents to buy my nephews and nieces because they seem to get everything from their parents, but it's hard not to provide when you are able. I hope I don't spoil my kids if I have some, but it's tough.
And what about that bratty dog in the Advantix commercial? Someone needs to tell him it's not polite to taunt the other puppies just because they have bugs on them.
I'm not familiar with the conmercials you described, because I really don't watch tv. I do remember the Spongmonkeys on the Quizno's ads. I have those little videos saved to my hard drive.
As for real kids? Parents are horrible.
Yes, the Quiznos kid is creepy. That's why there's a "mute" button on the remote control (and/or lots of other channels to surf while the commercials are on.)
Blaming the media for the way parents raise their kids (or don't), though, is as pointless as blaming A.D.D. on the Internet.
Uh, what were we talking about again? Bugs?
You're right, of course. There are no bad dogs.
No, Stephen, we were talking about Quiznos. Which, I don't think I would like, BUT that reminds me, I had a lovely veggie wrap from the local natural foods store for lunch today...
Er, wait.. we were talking about...
Media influences everything in our culture. From what we eat to what kind of shampoo to use to what clothes to wear. Children are easily influenced and the media knows this. Just ask a Furbee or a Talking Elmo. There are too many parents who have never learned the word NO. There are good parents out there too, no doubt about it. But I have seen too many kids that get absolutely everything they ever ask for, because the parents are afraid of their kids behavior when they are "deprived". Kid screams, mom/dad caves. These are the households where the kids are making the rules.
Okay, okay, I just asked a Talking Elmo.
And he replied, "Who wants to die?"
eep...
Actually, Ville, it does take a village to raise a child and your post is a perfect demonstration of it. Parents are the primary teachers and raisers of children, but kids are affected by dozens of other influences (the "village") every day. That's what the original saying and Hillary Clinton's book is about.
The question isn't whether the village is part of a child's life or not. It is. (I dare anyone to try to raise a child with no input from anyone else. First you find a cave...) The question is whether aspects of the village will have a positive or a negative impact on the child's life. And the fact that the village is a part of children's lives in no way negates the need for good parenting. It'll never be either the village or the parents. It has always been and will always be the two in conjunction.
I don't know about the Talking Elmo, but we had a Furby that declared: "Drunk-a-bye! Baby says 'HAPPY!'"
Pretty subversive.
What I can't stand is small kids who sound exactly like adults. I don't see this quite as much on commercials as I do on the shows themselves. Smug, self-aware kids should be glued into a pair of Osh-Kosh biballs and forced to work under sweatshop conditions. That is all.
Boy, have you ever hit on one of my favorite things to rant about. Obligiatory disclaimer: I don't have kids, and I don't want 'em.
That out of the way, I can't help but wonder if some of this isn't a direct result of the "children as center of the universe" mentality that seems so pervasive in our culture.
On the one hand, we (I use the term in its broadest sense) place all manner of restrictions on adults--e.g., no smoking in public parks, no drinking basically anywhere, nothing naughty on TV before 10pm (or ever, if some folks had their way), no carrying of (otherwise legal and properly permitted) firearms within 1000 feet of a school (which covers pretty much entire cities in some cases, including the one in which I live), etc., etc.,...for the children. If my friends and I have a few drinks at a local restauraunt and get a little loud, we might be asked to quiet down or leave. If someone's kid is running around screaming in the same place, I'm expected to tolerate it.
On the other hand, there seems to be an enourmous pressure on parents to build their entire lives around their children--if every minute of your life isn't somehow oriented towards your kids, you're a lousy parent. If you haven't scheduled them for every soccer league, karate class, horseback riding camp, etc., that you can cram into their schedule, you're a lousy parent. If you don't go into deep debt to buy a house you can't afford in the best school district or to send them to a private school you can't afford (or both), you're a lousy parent. So parents forgo their own intersts and comfort completely for the sake of meeting impossible standards.
I'm not saying that kids aren't important or that parents shouldn't make them a priority...I'm just wondering if adults acting (or being expected to act) like children are the be-all and end-all in life doesn't...I don't know...rub off on the kids a little?
If you look back at the culture of earlier generations (pre-baby boom) it's pretty clear that they were not kid-centered the way we are today. Seen and not heard, and all that. Maybe the connection I'm making here is specious, but I don't think so.
um... sorry, I was over at the bar... could you repeat that?
I love the insinuation of the Welch's commercial that if a mother is going to indulge herself, it's going to be with grape juice. Yeah, not clothes or food or drinking with girlfriends or new boobs, she's going to pamper herself with a sugar/water concoction.
Good observation donny. Which is a good point supporting brians comment. She couldn't possibly indulge on anything else. She has KIDS!
The population of adult a**holes is going to increase ten-fold in the upcoming decades.
I, too, am troubled by the way kids interact with adults on commercials and regular programming.. I beat mine if they get lippy. They ought to do the same on television.
POW. Try to get witty again and see what happens!
All the welche's grape juice kids are SATAN! Sorry but they creep the heck out of me. I can't change the channel fast enough. What ad exec though they would make good sales people, Steven King? Ugh, thanks for letting me vent.
As someone who has kids, I completely agree with you.
It always amazes me when I'm with my friends (and their children) how seldom they will discipline their kids. And I have gotten many looks in stores, etc. for disciplining mine. I'm not talking about beating them in public, but saying no, telling them I don't like their behavior, telling them to stop what they're doing or they'll get a time-out, etc.
Disciplining seems to be un-cool nowadays. That's too bad. Fear the future is right.
Hear, hear! The media do have a lot to answer for, because there are parents who now think that these spoiled brats are the new normal. And they ain’t. I was raised by my grandmother as I had a two-income family, and it’s a model that a lot of Asian and Pacific Island cultures follow. I have to say that that did me a heck of a lot of good. (I was referred here by Things I’ve Noticed, incidentally.)
Thank you everyone for your comments and feedback. I see I'm not the only one frustrated with the way kids are being coddled these days. Recently, a news report covered a story about a Boston College that has implemented common sense classes for new students. There is also a course in "You are NOT the center of the universe, and here is why." If that isn't support for my argument, I don't know what is.
How friggin sad that we're teaching common sense in a classroom, and sadder yet... it's not surprising at all.
"You are NOT the center of the universe, and here is why."
I'm not?
Now you tell me!
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