What Do the Kids Want for Christmas? Whatever Mass Marketing Tells Them They Want

Tommy wants a remote control fire truck and Samantha wants a doll that acts like a real baby, what is the harm in that? Not much except it's not the toy that the child wants; it's the suggestion that they will be happy. How many times do adults purchase exactly what the child wants only to sell it in a yard sale the following summer? To the adult, we define our children's happiness based on the ideals that we are influenced by. The market appeals to both the ideal vision of the parent and the manipulation of young minds desiring to be accepted. The danger is when mass marketing and media define our children's roles and behaviors as adults and the parents' allowing this by buying whatever toy that the child says that he or she wants.

When parents or adults purchase toys for children, we are influenced by what the mass media and the department stores are displaying to us. For example, we want little Samantha to grow into a loving and nurturing adult- therefore a parent may purchase some stuffed animal or doll for her to imitate a loving parent later in life. When Samantha grows older, a parent may want for her to be more like a model teenager/young adult and then the purchases would involve makeup, teen magazines (to increase her knowledge of media influence), clothing and hair styling products. By contrast, when considering Christmas presents for Tommy, the influences are different. Tommy must be encouraged to be an explorer, an astronaut, a mechanic, a cowboy and be good at sports. Certainly if Tommy is good at any of these things, especially sports, then he should be successful later in life. The images on these products and gender roles are clearly defined, the dolls show a picture of a happy and beautiful little girl cradling on the box and the product of the packaging for the boy often will show an attractive little boy playing and enjoying the toy. Then when the actual toy is purchased, the child plays with it for a short while and then wants the next toy they see on television.

The marketing of these toys really have nothing to do with the children, they are designed to appeal to the parent. Parents make the purchases- not the children but they have to market by the concept that appeals to both groups of consumers. Girls toys are usually mini kitchenettes, small baking ovens (to later become good cooks), nurseries for their dolls, small action figures that look as they would like to look like when they get older. Boy toys are usually action figures, Nerf foam guns, water guns, swords, toy cars, trucks, dinosaurs and sports related toys. Both appealing again to what a parent holds for each ideal, but defines each gender role in unusual ways. Boys are encouraged to: act out fighting, explore nature, play with cars, fix things and act out superhero adventures while girls are encouraged to: care and nurture for others, make jewelry and design clothing. Each ideal appears harmless but harms each gender, the boy is encouraged to excel and fight while the girl is defined as a nurturing and loving contributor as a homemaker and mother. Toys are not designed to appeal to the parent's desire for children to go to college and have a humanistic approach for their children to contribute to society. But it is not too late to change the market, we as adults make the purchases that influence marketing, not the other way around.

In conclusion, parents set the ideal based on their purchases and not the other way around. If all adults/parents elect to purchase toys for children based on intellectual properties, then the market would have no choice but to change. However, this trend has been ongoing since marketing of toys has evolved and until each and every parent justifies their purchases based on their own personal wants for their children rather than the market perception- then perhaps things will change. Until then we will all continue to follow the trends as set forth by the mass appeal.