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It's no surprise that the pre-teen demographic has become a major draw for marketers and big business. There are presently 52 million kids under the age of 12 in the United States. These kids spend $40 billion of their own money on everything from clothes and music to toys and electronics annually, but more importantly, they influence an additional $700 billion in parental spending.
Unfortunately, the media onslaught begins early, often abetted by well-meaning parents who have bought into the trendy but unfounded "smart baby" pitches from media conglomerates selling Brainy Baby, Baby Einstein, and Baby Genius programs and products (Baby Einstein is a billion dollar industry). According to research reported in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 40 percent of infants are watching screen media regularly by the age of three months. Ninety percent are viewers by the age of two. The Federal Trade Commission has concluded that children ages 2-11 see more than 25,000 advertisements a year on TV alone. This does not include product placements.
Watch a short preview here.
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