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In cities all across America, digital billboards are springing up, bringing the benefits of instantly changeable digital graphics, images and text, to a medium where advertising contracts were traditionally sold for months or longer at a time.

As of January 2007, about 400 digital billboards populated the U.S. landscape, according to an article in The New York Times. Quoting a forecast from the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, OAAA, the article reported that about 4,000 digital billboards will be in use in 10 years.

A recent example of the use of a digital billboard probably encapsulates the reason why they’re so appealing better than a 10,000-word treatise on them ever could. Digital billboard operators in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Waterloo, Iowa, teamed up Jan. 3 to deliver news from the Iowa presidential caucuses that was updated every seven to 10 minutes till the process was complete and Senator Barak Obama and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee were declared the winners.

Having access to that sort of immediacy on such a scale in the outdoor advertising arena was unthinkable a few short years ago. What that translates to on a commercial basis is the same digital sign can be used to advertise hundreds and hundreds of products in the same day -not the same product for months on end.

To date, the dominant display technology responsible for these digital billboards is a particularly bright, particularly responsive light emitting diode -LED. Just as TVs -whether their LCD or plasma flat panels or old-fashioned cathode ray tube televisions- make pictures based on tiny discrete picture elements called pixels, light-emitting-diode-based billboards rely on an array of LEDs to display text, graphics and video. (Video is a major application in stadiums; it’s more doubtful how useful or safe it would be if the intention was to communicate with drivers zipping down the interstate at 70 miles per hour.)

While highly effective, large LED signs are quite expensive and power-hungry. A Washington Post article last spring quoted an executive with CBS Outdoor, one of the three largest outdoor advertising companies in the world, as saying a 14-by-48-foot LED digital billboard costs about $450,000. With that sort of price tag, it’s easy to understand why the OAAA forecasts their number to grow to only 4,000 in 10 years while there are about 450,000 billboards across America. It’s also not too hard to imagine that full-on, high-quality video-, text- and graphic-based LED signage may be out of reach for literally hundreds of thousands of other outdoor signage applications.

However, there is an alternative. New high-gain projection screens, such as the XL-A-Vision screen from AccelerOptics in Carthage, Missouri, have the ability to reject enough ambient light -even the intense noonday sun- to make the use of video projectors a practical, affordable alternative. Depending on the type of configuration specified, this approach to outdoor digital signage can cost in the tens of thousands or dollars, not several hundred thousand dollars as with the LED-based approach.

Recently, the first major outdoor application of an XL-A-Vision screen went online in Grants Pass, Oregon, where the developer of a modern office complex installed a double-sided outdoor projection-based sign based on the high-gain screen. The 10.5-by-15-foot sign, which the building’s owner has dubbed “The Paragon,” offers all of the advantages one would expect of a digital sign, including the opportunity for ad sales to offset the cost of the display.

However, what really drives home the point of why this approach to outdoor digital signage is significant is the fact that the building’s owner, Consolidated Financial, did not have the budget to pay for an LED-based digital sign. If projection-based signage made possible by a high-gain projection screen technology had not been available, the company would have abandoned the idea of installing an outdoor digital signage.

While the number of digital billboards using LED-technology will climb over the next 10 years, think of how many more applications for outdoor digital signage will be enabled by this revolutionary, affordable approach to projection screen technology. High-gain projection screens, like those used for The Paragon, may have as big of an impact on the outdoor advertising landscape -if not bigger- than LED-based approaches.

IMPACTS OF FOOD PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENTS OF PAKISTAN TELEVISION ON THE EATING HABITS OF CHILDREN

By MALIK TARIQ MAHMOOD

INTRODUCTION

Television belongs to the family of audio-visual communication medium. It is able to transmit sounds and images carrying message of a varied nature and for a variety of purpose. It has strong influence on people, in the culture and on other media. It is a widely used telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound over a distance from all around the world. The term may also be used to refer specifically to a television set, programming or television transmission. Television commercials have become one of the most effective, most persuasive, and most popular methods of selling products of many sorts.

Within Pakistani culture we need to look deeper at the role of television and advertisements, to assess why they hold such a valuable position. Pakistan Television is a permanent fixture in children’s lives. The television set is as familiar to children as the faces of family members. Television set is always there, to entertain and to give company to children, especially when no one else in the mood to play, chat or interact with them. They are increasingly being exposed to different cultures, absorbing new ideas and impressions about other cultures.

Many television advertisements are catchy jingles or catch-phrases that generate sustained appeal, which may remain in the minds of television viewers long after the span of the advertising campaign. Nowadays advertising spread in our entire culture influences in society and our fundamental patterns of life. Advertising can be seen as one of the factors that contribute to shape people’s life, their basic values, and attitudes. But actual picture is different, according to Edger “Advertising is the art of making whole lies out of half truth.’1

Advertising has been watched in many ways: on Television, Newspapers, Billboards, Walls, Video, Internet and in many other forms. The protection of children from harm is linked directly to the issue of what affects observed from viewing television. The criticisms regarding watching television of children are linked to what they watch and for how long. Television advertising on food causes parental concern; parents try to control the television viewing of their children. Parental control of television viewing is expected to lower the number of hours of a child, which leaves impacts on their health.1

Today’s children are our future and unique in many ways from previous generation. But perhaps the most influencing factor on children’s health is television advertisements. There are general concerns of parents that television advertising has negative influence intended or unintended on children’s health.

Advertising is the structured and composed nonpersonal communication of information, usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about products by identified sponsors through various media. Advertising companies naturally communicate to large number of people about their products. There is nothing wrong with that, as it allows innovative ideas and concepts to be shared with others. However, as the years have progressed, the advertising methods and techniques have become advance, appealing, shaping, and even creating consumer’s needs where there has been none before, or turning luxuries into necessities.2

Mass advertising is no longer solely a means of introducing and distributing products, though it does that. It is a major mechanism in the ability of a relatively small number of giant corporations to hold disproportionate power over the economy. These corporations need newspapers, magazines, and broadcasting not just to sell their goods but to maintain their economic and political influence. The media are no longer neutral agents of the merchants but essential gears in the machinery of corporate gigantism, and increasingly they are not only needed but they are owned by the corporate giants.3

HISTORY OF ADVERTISING

Advertising is as old as civilization itself. The earliest beginnings of advertising, of course, are impossible to pinpoint, but there are several examples dating back thousands of years. In early days, signboards were placed above the doors of business establishments, and later, the town crier was an important advertising medium. Advertising was a well established part of the social environment of early civilizations. However, until the advent of mass selling in the 19th century, advertising played only a minor role in the conducting of business.4

After the invention of printing handbills, posters and then newspapers were used in increasing the quantities of advertise products. The development of railroad transportation enabled advertising industry to send its products to consumers who lived far from the manufacturing plants. Advertising assumed national character as business people used both newspapers and television to broaden their markets.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The advertising of food products of Pakistan Television impact on children’s health – eating disorder and they become obese and idle. The researcher interested to investigate these impacts of food-products advertising on the health of children.

OBJECTIVES

The study was conducted while keeping following objectives in mind:

i) To investigate children’s viewing habits of Pakistan Television

ii) To find out impacts of advertising on children’s health

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Although there are many beneficiaries of the study but the main beneficiaries are parents’, and personnel of advertising agencies. All parents want to provide good food to their children for healthy life. The results of the study will show the parents about impact of advertising on the health of their children and will help them to compensate these affects.

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter has been divided into five parts. The first part describes some general things about Television advertising. The second part of the chapter is explaining theory of the advertising; how the advertisements affect the health of children and their lives. The third part explains the role of advertising in the society. The fourth part describes the health of children and their BMI. The fifth part of the study explores the negative impacts of ads on the health of children of 8 to 12 years.

Television is an important socialisation agent; it is present in children’s lives. Many advertisements broadcast on television are the creations of brilliant minds that want to persuade them to purchase the advertised products. Evidence are mounting that marketing to children is harmful. Nearly every aspect of children’s lives has been adversely affected by recent trends of advertising. Research links advertising to increased obesity and eating disorders in children because they are vulnerable to persuasive messages. According to Media scholar Gorge “Television has become unavoidable and unremitting factor in shaping that what we are and what we will become.”1

The children under the age of eight are unable to critically comprehend televised advertising messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as truthful, accurate and unbiased. This can lead to unhealthy eating habits as evidenced by today’s youth. This is a critical concern because the most common products marketed to children are cereals, candies, sweets, sodas and snack foods. Advertising of such unhealthy food products to young children contributes to poor nutritional habits that may last a lifetime and be a variable in the current epidemic of obesity among kids.2

TELEVISION ADVERTISING

A consumer exposed hundreds commercial messages every day. They may appear in the form of billboards, newspapers, television commercials, etc. It is actually a very structured form of applied communication, employing both verbal and nonve
rbal elements that are composed to fill specific space and time formats determined by the sponsor. First and foremost, advertising is communication – a special kind of communication. Traditionally, advertising has been principally a one-way process, but with today’s new interactive technology, consumers can give feedback to advertising messages in real time using the same channels as the sender. Most advertising is intended to be persuasive – to win converts to a product, service, or idea. Some ads, such as legal announcements, are intended merely to inform, not to persuade. But they are still ads because they satisfy all the other requirements of the definition.3

The issues surrounding advertising directed to children are related to certain commercial campaigns primarily targeting children. Cold-drink advertisements are commonly shown during sports events and seen by millions of children, creating brand familiarity and motivating children for buying. They have been exposed television more than 15 edible ads during one hour programme and when they watch television 4 hours a day that means they saw one product’s ad around 20 times in one sitting. This is referred to graph no. 15 at page 34.

Advertising is persuasive and informational influence on the behaviour of the audience. Advertising is also a marketing tool and may be used in combination with other marketing tools, such as sales promotions, personal selling tactics, or publicity. But the actual picture is different, according to Edger “Advertising is the art of making whole lies out of half truth.”

The impact of television advertising is the greatest among children. The children like television commercials more than elder group, and they are also more deeply influenced by the catchy appearance of advertiser on their lives.

Advertising aimed at children is based on three concerns, first, it is believed that advertising promote superficially and values founded in material goods and consumption. Second, children are considered inexperienced consumers and easy prey for the sophisticated persuasion of advertisers. Third, advertising influences children demand for everything from toy to snack food.4

THE ROLE OF ADVERTISING

Advertising plays a vital role in the economic system of a country. It helps in selling ideas, goods, and services. Advertising both reflects and affects our lifestyles, and thus, plays a substantial social role. Advertising has become so close to our life, therefore, it serves multidimensional communication needs of society. Business firms, labour unions, government agencies, and political leaders are successfully employing advertising to inform and persuade people about their purpose.

Kapoor gives the four points of role of advertising: First, the country’s gross national product is greater and the standard of living is higher than they would otherwise be. Advertising creates jobs with a greater variety of products, and improves the quality of products and increase the economy of country. Second, argument of Kapoor is that advertising plays a major role in informing the consumer so that more intelligent choices are made in the marketplace. Third, rationale for advertising is that the firm’s cost of production per unit of output is lower because advertising increases demand for the firm’s output, so, advertising leads to more efficient use of resources in the economy. Finally, she says that advertising leaves the impacts either positive or negative on the general masses as well as on children. These impacts are changed according to the culture and environment.5

The above mentioned four points are whole picture of advertising that advertisers want to achieve. This same situation can be found in Pakistan. So, no one can able to explore all the aspects of advertising at this level because so many hurdles are there, such as lack of resources, shortage of time.

CHILDREN’S HEALTH

Every parent consciously and keenly observes the health of their children in all society. But parents are more attached with their children in Pakistani society because children are their future and they will help in finances when parents will retire. All parents like to provide good food to their children for their health and give proper education for making them a good citizen. Both parents are working because they want to improve their living standard; this is referred to graph no. 4. Some times parents over looks children’s activities i.e. what and when they eat? When and how they watch television? Why they become obese and idle? 6

Actually the researcher will explore the answer of all these questions because these questions are mainly related with the study.

Health experts have linked excessive watching television to obesity – a significant health problem today. While watching television, children are inactive to buy such products. They are also bombarded with advertising messages that encourage them to buy and eat unhealthy foods such as potato chips, burgers, pastries etc. and empty-calorie soft drinks that often become preferred snack foods. Indirectly advertising leave too much affect on children’s health. Even if children are watching 4 hours of quality educational programs on television in a day, that means they are not exercising, reading, socializing, or spending time outside. But some studies have shown that decreasing the amount of television watching by children led to less weight gain and lower body mass index increase, and make them idle that is not better for their health.7

BODY MASS INDEX (BMI)

Body Mass Index (BMI) is used to estimate healthy weight of average people. A BMI of 20 to 24 is desirable for most adults. A person with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and a person with a BMI of 30 or above is considered obese. Obesity is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases.

The body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to determine desirable body weights. BMI is a measure of an adult’s weight in relation to height, and it is calculated metrically as weight divided by height squared (kg/m2).

Body mass index only provides a rough estimate of desirable weight; however, physicians recognize that many other factors besides height affect weight. Weight alone may not be an indicator of fat, as in the case of a bodybuilder who may have a high BMI because of a high percentage of muscle tissue, which weighs more than fat. Likewise, a person with a sedentary lifestyle may be within a desirable weight range but have excess fat tissue. However, the higher BMI is greater the risk for developing serious medical conditions.

BMI Chart for Boys

Body Mass Index (BMI) percentiles for boys, from two to twenty years, so that you can track your child’s growth curve and see if they are underweight, overweight or just right.

BMI Chart for Girls

Body Mass Index (BMI) percentiles for girls, from two to twenty years, so that you can track your child’s growth curve and see if they are underweight, overweight or just right.

What is Fat?

Fats, or lipids, are nutrients in food that children’s body uses to build nerve tissue (like the brain) and hormones. The body also uses fat as fuel. If fats that children have eaten are not burned as energy or used as building blocks, they are stored by the body in fat cells. This is body’s way of thinking ahead: By saving fat for future use, the body plans for times when food might be scarce.

Fat gives food flavour and texture, but it’s also high in calories, and excess amounts of fatty foods as with excess amounts of any food can cause many health risks. For children and adolescents, desserts and snacks including potato chips, chocolate, cakes, doughnuts, pastries, and cookies are a significant source of fat. Children also get fat from whole milk products and high-fat meats, such as fried and spicy meat. Of course, fast-food and take-out meals tend to have more fat than home
cooking; and in restaurants, fried dishes are the highest in fat content. Fat also often “hides” in foods in the form of creamy, cheesy, or buttery sauces or dressings.

Still, though, fat is an important part of a healthy diet when the children eat the right kinds of fats especially those from certain kinds of fish in recommended amounts. Like carbohydrates in recent years, fats have been wrongly accused of being “bad”. Although some definitely better than others, certain kinds of fat are actually good for teenager and children an important part of a healthy diet.

Obesity increases the risk of developing disease. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, almost 70 percent of heart disease cases in the United States are linked to excess body fat, and obese people are more than twice as likely to develop hypertension. The risk of medical complications, particularly heart disease, increases when body fat is distributed around the waist, especially in the abdomen. This type of upper body fat distribution is more common in men than in women.8

CAUSES OF OBESITY

A calorie is the unit used to measure the energy value of food and the energy used by the body to maintain normal functions. When the calories from food intake equal the calories of energy the body uses, weight remains constant. But when a person consumes more calories than the body needs, the body stores those additional calories as fat, causing subsequent weight gain.

Obesity, medical condition characterized by storage of excess body fat. The human body naturally stores fat tissue under the skin and around organs and joints. Fat is critical for good health because it is a source of energy when the body lacks the energy necessary to sustain life processes, and it provides insulation and protection for internal organs. But the accumulation of too much fat in the body is associated with a variety of health problems. Studies show that individuals who are overweight or obese run a greater risk of developing diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and some forms of cancer.9

The causes of obesity are complex and include some factors. Basically, obesity occurs when a person eats more calories than the body burns up. The children have an 80 percent chance of being obese if their parents are obese. Obesity in childhood and adolescence can be related to:

i) Poor eating habits

ii) Overeating habits

iii) Unnecessary use of Cold drinks

iv) Eating Non-nutrition food

v) Eating out-side the home

The percentage of overweight children is growing at an alarming rate. On the whole, children were spending less time exercising and more time in front of the TV and computer. And today’s busy families have fewer free moments to prepare nutritious, home-cooked meals, day in and day out. From fast food to electronics, quick and easy seems to be the mindset of many people, young and old, in the new millennium.

IMPACTS OF ADVERTISING

Modern life style has frozen the family size in the Pakistani society. Nuclear family has taken place of the joint family. Lifestyle trends in urban Pakistan (rising incomes, longer working hours, more working mothers, and time-poor/cash-rich parents) tend to support their families, which lead the child to watching television and increased consumption of unnecessary food. Furthermore, the advertising industry makes junk food seem irresistible.

Children who watch a lot of television have difficulty in concentrating at school because they are used to being given all the answers instead of being asked to think about questions. If children watch less television, their imagination will grow.

Unfortunately, children are not given proper guidance as to what they should do. The media is not playing its proper role in the promotion of children’s rights and the difficulties they have to face in the society. Even the authorities of Pakistan Television ignored this side and they can not design programs according to children’s requirements.

IMPACTS ON CHILDREN’S HEALTH

James suggests that “Childhood obesity arises from foods that are high in fat and low in fibre. When children eat this food, the insulin not only increases the effects of the pleasure-chemical dopamine (making the child want to eat more of the same food) but also reduces the effects of the hormone leptons, making the child want to eat more and be less active”.10

Television also has negative impacts, it creates eye problems. It stops the children from going out and playing with friends. Its advertising makes them buy things even if they do not need. It can make them tired and unable to focus on their lessons.

LEAVE UNHEALTHY HABITS

Gerbner said that the many media experts in Western countries who continue to be deeply anxious about the commercial context of television programming. They argue that television advertising leave impacts on society, particularly on the health of children, and television advertising is not going on air without reason.11

The impact of television on children has received much attention. Research suggests that children see television advertising as just another form of programming and react uncritically to its messages, which makes them especially vulnerable to advertising. There is also concern about the way in which children respond to advertising. Research indicates that many children are unduly influenced by this standard of health, become dissatisfied with their own bodies, and may develop eating disorders in pursuit of a thin figure. Advertising affect daily life and eating habits etc. The children as well as the teenager get influenced, consciously or unconsciously by advertisements of Pakistan television.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Every scientific discipline employs a particular methodology in conducting of research. This includes some assumptions and values which serve as a rationale (underlying reasons) for effort of research and standards criteria for the whole process. The basic purpose of this research study was investigating the negative impacts of eating habits/disorder on the health of children. For this purpose systematic random sampling method was used. The sample size was limited to 30 children aged between 8 – 12 years and their parents.

RESEARCH DESIGN

This study was survey research about “Impacts of food product advertisements of Pakistan Television on eating habits of Children” in Satellite Town (B-Block) Rawalpindi city. The researcher used questionnaire for parents and interviews of the children as instrument to gather the data.

POPULATION

In this research study children of age 8 – 12, and their parents in Rawalpindi city were the population of the study.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE AND SAMPLE

Random and convenience sampling techniques were applied in this research for selecting the sample. The sampling frame was 30 children aged 8 – 12, and their parents from Satellite Town (B-Block) Rawalpindi city.

DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES

There are three demographic variables in this study:

i) Gender

ii) Age

iii) Qualification

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

In order to realise the objective, a survey study was carried out. The data was collected mainly from the primary sources. A questionnaire was designed for parents. Children’s questionnaire was also used for structured interview.

DATA COLLECTION

Data was collected through questionnaire and interview. Questionnaire were distributed among the parents and administered by the researcher personally. Structured Interview was conducted to all children respondents of sample.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

In this chapter the researcher analyzed the data of impacts of advertisements on the health of children. The data on the “Impacts of Food Product Advertisements of PTV on the Health of Children were collected
through a questionnaire which was especially designed for this study. Primarily, cross-tabulation statistical procedure was applied to investigate relationship between demographic variables i.e. (gender, age, and qualification, and presented in graphs alongwith data tables with interpretation.

As evident form the graph 1, the majority of the male respondents (34% fell in the age category of 30 to 45 as well as female respondents in the same groups made 23%. The results showed that majority of the both groups respondents were youngster.

As evident from the graph 2, the majority of the male respondents (20%) was Doctor whereas 20% were running their business, 10% female respondents were Govt. employee and 10% were housewives.

Graph 3, showed that 57% of male respondents and 30% female respondents were highly qualified. So, male respondents were higher qualified as compared to female.

The graph 4 documents the monthly income of the parents-respondents. As evident from the graph that male respondent belongs to well earning families as compare to female respondents.

As evident from the graph 5 this shows the composition of families of the respondents, the majority of respondents having four members in their family.

As evident from the graph 6 all parent respondents watched PTV regularly.

As evident from the graph 7 that majority (13%) of male-respondents watched PTV in evening and late night as compare to female respondents who liked to watch Pakistan Television in morning and afternoon.

Graph 8 showed that majority of parent watches Pakistan Television for 2 to 3 hours daily.

Graph 9 reflects that all children respondents were regular viewers of Pakistan Television.

The results of the graph 10 shows that children like to watch television in evening mostly but some respondents like to watch in afternoon as well.

As evident from the graph 11, the majority (30%) of children respondents watches PTV for more than four hours daily. According to the data collected children of 8-12 years old were heavy viewers of PTV. Actually that is the problem area because watching television for long time i.e. more than five hours creates adverse effects on the health, especially children of 8-12 years old.

The results of the graph 12 shows that majority (33%) of children respondents like to watch children shows/quiz programmes as guided by their parents.

Graph 13 reflects that parents allow their children to watch PTV for the purpose of getting updated information and for entertainment as well.

Graph 14 is evident that male respondents felt tiredness when they watch PTV for more than 3 to 4 hours but female respondents got bored that means female liked to watch more than four hours.

As evident from the graph 15 that majority of respondents (40%) watched ads around 15-20 and 20% saw more than 25 ads in an hour. Its means that during one hour program a lot of food-products were advertised on PTV which instigated children to buy these products on their own or ask their parents to buy the same for them.

As evident from the graph 16 that majority of both parent and children respondents usually liked to buy cold-drinks but some children responded that they also liked to buy chips type products as well. These products increase fats on the body especially in children because the age 8-12 years is the grooming age and they need proper and nutritionist diet for their health.

As evident from the graph 17 parent respondents, responded that children attitude was changed if they did not buy or allow them to buy such edibles. They behave aggressively with their elders or parents.

The results of the graph 18 show the impacts of Pakistan Television’s ads on children. Parents responded that their children tried to imitate when they saw ads, but some parents responded that they felt some aggressiveness during/after watching ads because advertiser showed super human actions.

As results of the graph 19 shows that parents always buy food products on their children’s demand because they were well earned (refer to graph no. 4). They fulfilled all demands of their children whatever they demanded for eating. This eating habit created eating-disorder in the children of 8-12 years old.

As evident from the graph 20 that parents felt that PTV’s ads effected their children’s diet because their children having enough money to buy belong to upper class families (refer to graph no.4).

As evident of graph 21 that parents responded that these ads increased eating disorder and decreased health of their children.

FINDINGS

The purpose of this research was to find out Impacts of Food Product Advertisements of Pakistan Television on the Eating Habits of Children. The major variables those are likely to have a significant impact of Pakistan Television ads on children’s health.

In Pakistan almost all the children have been watching television regularly. The information about children’s spending time on viewing television was to estimate their exposure to the variety of advertisements. Variation of advertising’s influence has been observed differently in one child to another, and from day to day for the same child. Nevertheless, some general influence of advertising on children were observed, which presented in chapter 4 at graph 9.

According to the graph 11; all the children have been watching television daily. 23% children saw television for up to 3 hours and 30% were watched television up to 4 hours a day. Thus, they were found heavy and regular viewers. Most of the children spend quite a lot of time sitting in front of television screen watching various programmes.

Thus, children of 8 to 10 years old were found to be more attracted towards television ads and they watched them with great interest but with the increasement in the age, children’s preferences shifted towards television programmes.

Most of the children in all age groups watched the television ads with great. That means many audio-visual techniques in television advertising were simply aimed at gaining, and holding children’s attention, which impressed them to purchase various products. Thus, television advertisements could really make a tremendous impact on children. The researcher found out the following aspects:

1) Children of 8-12 years old and their parents were watched Pakistan Television TV regularly. Most of the male parent liked to watch at late night but female parent liked to watch at morning and evening and their children liked to watch at evening. The parents’ watching span was 2-3 hours but their children’s watching span was 4-5 hours daily.

2) Children liked to watch children shows/quiz programmes but their parents allowed them to watch of PTV for getting information and entertainment as well.

3) Male respondents felt tiredness when they watched PTV for more than 3 to 4 hours but female respondents got bored that means female liked to watch more than four hours.

4) Majority of parents and children usually liked to buy cold-drinks but some children also liked to buy chips type products as well. The researcher find out that these products increase fats on the body especially in children because the age 8-12 years is the grooming age and they need proper and nutritionist diet for their health.

5) Children’s attitude was changed if they did not buy or allow them to buy such edibles. They behaved aggressively with their elders or parents.

6) The children tried to imitate when they saw ads, but some parents responded that they felt some aggressiveness during/after watching ads because advertiser showed super human actions.

7) Parents always bought readymade food products on their children’s demand because they were well earned (refer to graph no. 4). They fulfilled all demands of their children whatever they demanded for eating. This eating habit created eating-disorder in the children of 8-12 years ol
d.

Ads of PTV effected their children’s diet because their children having enough money to buy such edible belong to upper class families (refer to graph no.4).

9) Ads of Pakistan Television increased eating disorder and decreased health of children of 8-12 years old.

CONCLUSION

Mostly children are addicted to viewing TV their average of viewing is more then 60% that means they are watching TV more then five hours per day, they are heavy viewers. After/during watching TV’s ads most of the children demanding drinks i.e. coca-cola, des, Pepsi these drinks develops unhealthy habits of children. Some children ages of 10-12 are trying to imitate the same action which they seen during that ads, which are dangerous for their lives.

The data of this research study proves that fats increased in the body of people especially in children, if they regularly drink these products. Increases fat in the body is not good sign because fat creates obesity and hear-diseases. Children are over weight according to their age and height because they are regularly use these cold drinks and eating fried meats outside the home with their parents or elders.

Children having less weight according to their BMI it’s due to their eating disorder. They think that if we eat and drink more than other we have good muscles but their stomachs are not digesting the such food properly, so eating disorder increased and after a couple of months their weight is decreasing. That is only for their eating disorder. They seen that the performer of powder-milk ads is healthier because s/he drink that milk after that they trying to buy and drink that power-milk but they do not know the actual picture.

RECOMMENDATIONS

After concluding the results of the data the researcher give the following recommendations:

i) Policymakers need to take steps to better protect children from exposure to advertising because of the inherent unfairness of advertising to audiences who lack the capability to evaluate wrong information in television advertising.

ii) Parents should attempt to restrict their children’s TV time.

iii) Teachers and parents can help children to decide what they should watch on TV.

iv) Adults should look out for things their children do not understand on TV.

v) Parents should also keep an eye on any other negative effects of watching Pakistan Television on children’s health, eating-disorder and their eye sight problems.

vi) Children should be encouraged both in their schools and at home to discuss television advertising.

vii) Parents/Teachers should help children to look for programmes which relevant for their health and has some positive impacts on their health of Pakistan Television.

Works Cited

Edger A. Shoaff. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/advertising_is_the_art_making_whole_lies/204323.html

Evra, Judith Van: Television and Child Development. (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum 1990).

Kunkel, D., Wilson, B., Donnerstein, E., & Blumenthal, E.: Measuring Television Violence: The importance of context. (Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 1995).

Ibid.

Ibid

Namita Unnikrishnan, and Shailaja Pajpai: The Impact of Television Advertising on Children. (Sage Publications India Private Limited, India 1996)

Namita Unnikrishnan, and Shailaja Pajpai: The Impact of Television Advertising on Children. (Sage Publications India Private Limited, India 1996)

Neeru Kapoor: Television Advertising & Consumer Response. (Mittal Publication, New Delhi, India 2003)

http://weightloss.about.com/od/obesityhealth/a/blwhatsbmi.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity

Shanahan James and Michael Morgan: Television and its Viewers: Cultivation Theory and Research. (Cambridge University Press, UK1999)

Syed Abdul Siraj Advertising. Islamabad: Allama Iqbal Open University) 6-8

Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

William F. Arens. Contemporary Advertising (10th Edition). (McGraw-Hill Irwin, United States 2006)

Products have been advertised with memororabls taglines / catchphrases / slogans for many years. How well have these slogans stuck in your memory ?

Try our slogans quiz below and see how many products / companies you can recognise from the advertising slogan …

Advertising Quiz 001

1. 1,000 Songs In Your Pocket

2. Full of Eastern Promise

3. The Best A Man Can Get

4. And All Because The Lady Loves ______

5. I’m A Secret Lemonade Drinker

6. Vorsprung Durch Technik

7. Connecting People

8. Made To Make Your Mouth Water

9. Your Flexible Friend

10. Forward With Britain

11. Liquid Engineering

12. The Power Of Dreams

13. Because Mums Are Heroes

14. It Comes From Paradise And Tastes Like Heaven

15. Solutions For A Small Planet

16. Ahh! ________

17. If You Like A Lot Of Chocolate On Your Biscuit

18. The Appliance Of Science

19. Apples Hazelnuts Bananas, Coconuts Raisins Sultanas

20. The Biggest Snack Pennies Can Buy

For the answers to this quiz, please visit:

http://tinyurl.com/advertising-slogans-001-abase

Advertising Quiz 002

1. All Over The Body

2. If You See Sid, Tell Him

3. Top Breeders Recommend It

4. Central Heating For Kids

5. It’s Good To Talk

6. You Can Be Sure Of ______

7. Follow The Bear

8. Tell Them About The Honey, Mummy

9. A Diamond Is For Ever

10. How Are You ?

11. Plink Plink Fizz

12. Switch To _______

13. Everything We Do Is Driven By You

14. Kills All Known Germs. Dead

15. The Car In Front Is A _______

16. Do It Right

17. It’s A _______. Honest

18. The Listening Bank

19. Washing Machines Live Longer With _____

20. I Never Knew It Had So Much In It

For the answers to this quiz, please visit:

http://tinyurl.com/advertising-slogans-002-abase

 

 

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Landscape and garden design fairs can be challenging to promote on a budget. However, there can be affordable and effective ways to market such events. If budget does not permit large scale, high-impact advertising campaigns, small-scale methods can work faster too. A possibly faster way to spread the message about an upcoming garden and landscape design fair is through the use of small marketing collaterals such as poster and flyer printing. There are easier ways to design and print flyers today. Apart from creating them using personal printers, online printers offer professional quality, flyer printing services  at low, affordable rates, even throwing in free, added value services such as digital proofing and sample material catalog delivery. Below are some ideas on how flyers can be used as effective marketing tools for landscape design fairs:

•    Flyers can serve as mini catalogs- Landscape installations appearing in a landscape or garden show can be printed in full color on flyers. The installations can look attractive on flyers. Flyers can feature full landscape designs, plant collections, paving and finishing materials, water feature installations, and sculptural elements. Online printers today can easily print large quantities of full color flyers with designs uploaded by customers or choose from professionally-designed templates. Customers are free to choose to use matte or glossy finished papers for a more polished look. Apart from landscape installations appearing at the fair, flyers can also catalog featured landscape designers; special lectures, demos and programs to be held at the fair.

•    Flyers can be used as promo materials-Apart from just advertising the fair, flyers can double as promo cards that announce special discounts for early registrants, for students, the elderly, trade organizations, companies, landscape material suppliers, socio-civic groups, garden clubs, and plant collectors. The flyers can also double as materials to avail free giveaways from landscape supply stores, concessionaires and landscape design services at the fair.

The introduction of the lap top has made computers portable and you can find them on planes, trains, buses and in cars. Computers are the latest method of communicating with nearly everyone, everywhere. That is until they start to develop problems. They are notorious for breaking down a few hours before you have to turn in your paper or make your office presentation.

Most computers have warranties covering service. There is usually probably a service where computer owners can get help over the phone or online. This service is essential to computer owners. If you have tried everything you know to resolve a computer problem and nothing is working, you can go online, at the computer manufacturer’s site, and do some simple diagnostic tests. Usually the site contains questions that commonly arise when computers fail. Simple solutions, from plugging in the equipment to rebooting a program, are available online.

If the online suggestions don’t work, you can call a service over the phone. The cable or phone company provider has this service available when you first are hooked-up to the Internet. A computer technician will listen to your complaint and then offer a variety of solutions. A pleasant, knowledgeable voice on the other end of the line can calm you down when you’re ready to pull your hair out or commit violent acts against your computer.

Sometimes, the phone technician can’t fix your problem. Then you need to call a repair service. There are companies that will dispatch computer technicians who will come to your home and, for a price, fix whatever is ailing your computer. Geek Squad is one such service. It will, on a 24/7 basis, provide upgrades, repairs and protection from spyware and viruses. If you think the problem is something you did as a result of not being familiar with a computer system, Geek Squad offers one- and two-hour personal instruction courses.

After it has been established that you don’t have a software problem, you now face the challenge of correcting a hardware problem. Then you have no choice but to open up the computer and do the repairs yourself. While most of us would pass on this option, it is not as difficult as it seems. There are less than 12 parts, including keyboard and mouse, in most computers. The number one cause of computer malfunctions is the AC power supply. Often, especially in cheaper models, replacing it solves all the problems.

There are some problems that you cannot solve without proper training, such as repairing the motherboard or the CPU or fixing video components and defective hard drives. Then you have to take your computer to a repair facility. There they can take your computer apart, run a diagnostic checkup and replace what needs to be replaced. They can install new hard drives, new components and programs, and replace any mechanical parts that are not working properly. They will also clean the inside of your computer, where dust and other smart particles have collected. If your computer is under warranty, you will probably get these services for free. If you have not purchased an extended warranty, you will have to pay for whatever is done.

If there is a hardware problem with your computer, you may not have to take it to the store where you bought it or a repair facility. There are facilities that come to you and, like Geek Squad, repair the malfunctioning equipment in your home.

Mascots on a corporate level serve as a way to embody the corporation motto, values, and ideas. Most corporations have their mascots designed around a central theme, item, or belief they wish to convey to their customer base. An example would be McDonald’s using Ronald McDonald as their symbol to convey they are a fun place to eat to children and families.

Society comes to look at the mascot as an embodiment of what the corporation represents. It’s possible that the mascot may be associated with many other products and images in the minds of consumers. Mascots must set forth a positive image that heightens happiness and an overall optimistic attitude within the consumer culture. This is why mascots impact on corporations can be either highly positive or largely negative.

Animals, People, and Clowns aren’t the Only Mascots Characterizing Corporations

As society evolves, so do the mascots that corporations decide to use. Animals, people, and clowns aren’t the only mascots characterizing Corporate America. Robots, blow up balloon characters, and slides and mazes for children with corporate symbols are becoming the way of the future.

I.M. Mascot

With technological advancements robots are becoming more appealing and sophisticated. They are being designed in many shapes, sizes, colors. Some have a robotic look while others may look human. The fact that they can interact with the public make them viable candidates for mascots. Public reactions to robots as mascots for corporations, hospitals, and media events is overwhelmingly positive. Many times the robots are rented for a short or long term stint for an event. The robot may be designed specifically with a corporation in mind.

They are very interactive with people, and many are designed with psychology, communication, and therapy in mind. This gives a very personalized effect to the robot that people can relate to. Also, since many robots are interactive they may be able to say slogans for the corporation or help market products and services with their words and actions.

Balloons Stand Tall as Corporate Mascots

Many corporations have larger than life balloons outside of their stores, branch offices, and corporate headquarters. The balloon may have a cartoon character, symbol, or other mascot to help advertise the wares and services of the corporation. Balloons are often anywhere from ten feet tall to several stories tall.

Often they are anchored down to the ground with ropes that extend from the balloon, and are pegged into a well-grounded area. They can be very eye-catching if someone is just driving alongside of the road, and the mascot may catch them by surprise. It is an effective marketing tool since it may jog the person’s memory back to the product of service the corporation is selling either that day or in the future.

Slides and Mazes Amaze the Tiniest of Consumers

Slides and mazes which are constructed from corporate events will attract the attention of the tiniest of consumers. It’s possible to have the corporate mascot attached onto the slide or maze emblazing the corporate symbol into the minds of children at corporate events. Also, since children will be having fun playing on the slides or in the mazes, they will associate the corporation with fun times and good feelings. It is an effective marketing tool and well worth the money spent. Not to mention it occupies children and leaves parents open for other types of marketing at corporate events.

Makeovers for Corporate Mascots

When corporations have been in business for several years, their mascots have become the epitome of what the corporation is and stands for. This is very important in a day and age when people are always in a hurry. They are likely to gravitate to companies that have mascots they associate with longevity and quality. However, with new generations it may be important for corporations to give their mascots a makeover.

McDonalds has done this recently with Ronald McDonald. Amid the controversy of obesity related to fast food among children, McDonalds is working hard to portray Ronald McDonald as a mascot of moderation and healthy practices. Recent ads show him eating with children and instead of french fries and soda they are eating fruit and drinking milk.

Advertising is the most effective way to reach consumers and create awareness about your products and services. With thousands of companies coming up every day to offer their products and services, advertising becomes a highly integral tool to reach your products effectively to the consumer. An advertising agency has an upheaval task of informing, persuading and building a relationship of trust and faith between the company and his consumers. Thus advertising agency is an instrument where advertisements are conceived, strategized, planned to reach maximum people. Webwindows, a UK based leading media agency has been rendering advisory and creative services to online companies to assist them in their needs for planning, composing advertisements and placing them in the right newspaper for the last ten years. In fact, Webwindows has a dedicated page, the Webwindows page that appears in the seven leading papers in the UK. The Webwindows page is completely dedicated to small and mid-sized companies to promote their online offerings. Research has proved what Webwindows has believed all along that when it comes to advertising print prevails over the Internet and all other forms of media. By advertising Webwindows, you  not only gain advertising space at cost-effective rates but also the fruits of the ten years of experience Webwindows has in guiding its client to advertise in the right newspaper based on demographics, customer reach, target audience etc.

The crux of the adverting job is to help you reach your services / products to the public in the best possible way. Advertising agencies have to build strategies that build a stand-out image of your company among your consumers. They need to build a relationship of trust and faith between your products / services and the prospective consumers. Following the same fundamental to reach your product to the consumers in a positive light, Webwindows assist online companies in 360 degree aspects of advertising. Right from ad content composition to design to placement, they formulate the best media strategies to help you reach a wide consumer base.

Here are a few tips from Webwindows on choosing the right advertising agency.

Understand your product and business goals: The first task of any advertising agency is to well-develop a thorough understanding of your product, its prospective position in the market place and its target audience. This helps advertisers to produce effective advertising campaigns to best publicize your product. Webwindows carefully studies your products and then guides you about the marketing strategy, which paper the ad should be placed, how many times it should run etc.

Create Advertising campaigns: Keeping the client’s goals in mind, the advertising agency should be able to build advertising campaigns, like slogans, jingles, et al. The campaign is built with the aim to push the sales of the company’s products, attract new consumer belt while retaining the old ones, re-affirm the brand image, market the product and generate brand awareness if the brand has been just forayed into the market.

Advertise the product: After the campaign is ready, the advertiser looks for media vehicles to popularize / publicize the product. The campaign may be advertised in a range of media agencies like, television, radio, print, depending on the client’s budget. For your advertising needs, Webwindows chooses newspaper as the premium mode of advertisement. Through its dedicated page, The Webwindows page, which appears as a colored supplement in seven leading newspapers and magazines in UK, it reaches its clients’ services to a large readership of around 5 million viewers. Webwindows also assists you in choosing the right newspaper to help you market your product so that it reaches maximum viewers in the most effective way.

The primary aim of any advertising agency is to analyze your goals and help you aspire for more results. Through their well-planned and result-oriented advertising strategies, Webwindows helps you reach the right audience at the right time highlighting the right message.

Bookmark printing is a great advertising tool for your custom bookmarks because they are useful in the sense that people use them. The purpose of a bookmark is to mark your page in a book, right? It is a great advertising tool because it preserves your message for quite some time because of the bookmark’s usefulness. Take this for example- custom bookmarks tucked unobtrusively in books suddenly become advertising tools once the reader decides to reopen the book. And it does not stop there. Every time the readers feel like opening her book, she is constantly reminded of your product or service.

Custom bookmarks are also inexpensive marketing tools. From the designing to the bookmark printing, till the time you distribute them, you don’t have to shell out a huge amount of money. Want to know why bookmarks are not that costly? Read on.

1.      Designing custom bookmarks do not have to be expensive because you can design it yourself. There are a lot of bookmark designs you can choose from. But why copy them when you can surely come up with something more unique or original? The more original, the more your bookmark becomes a collector’s item. There are a lot of websites that show bookmark designs. Try looking at them to get that inspiration.

        Remember however, that apart from your objective of designing a bookmark that not only looks great, your bookmark also has to have maximum marketing effectiveness. If you are unsure whether your design achieves its purpose of maximum marketing effectiveness, you can always ask the help of a printing company. They would be more than happy to help you with it for a minimal fee.

2.      Printing is where a chunk of your money would go into. However, bookmark printing need not be expensive. The trick here is to know the cost if you order in bulk. In printing anything, the more the order, the lesser the cost. So go ahead and shop for the printing cost that fits your budget. Talk to as many printing companies as you can to get the best deal. The key here is patience. Patience normally translates to big savings.

3.      Distributing your custom bookmarks does not entail much cost. You can just leave your bookmarks on store countertops. Better yet, slip them inside books or magazines that your target clients normally read.

Bookmarks are definitely great marketing tools. They are inexpensive to produce yet they have the capability to bombard your target audience with your message continuously. A piece of bookmark slipped inside a book will definitely go along way.

The society that we live in can not only be called secular or democratic, it should be more appropriately termed as over-communicated these days.Today ‘Celebrity Endorsement’ has attracted immense debate on whether it really contributes to the brand building process or whether it is just another lazy tool to make the brand more visible in the minds of the consumers. Although it has been observed that the presence of a well-known personality helps in solving the problem of over-communication that is becoming more prominent these days, there are few undesirable impacts of this practice on the brand.

Firms invest huge amounts as advertising expenditure for hiring the right celebrity. However there lies uncertainty with respect to the returns that the company might be able to garner for the brand. The issue of matching the values of the celebrity with the brand values is also very important, i.e. getting the right celebrity to endorse the right brand. Consumers perceive the brand as having superior quality because it has been endorsed by a credible source. This makes endorsement as one of the indictors of quality for any brand. Corporate credibility along with endorser credibility plays a significant role in the attitude of the consumer towards the brand and the advertisement respectively. On the other hand, the over popularity of the celebrity sometimes overshadows the brand. If the celebrity is involved in multiple endorsements, it tends to create confusion among consumers and hence negatively affects the perception of the advertisement and the brand. So its very difficult to say whether celebrity endorsement creates a positive or a negative impact on brands.

Lets see to the positive impacts of celebrity endorsement.: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for that brand among the target audience. This is especially true in case of new product. Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter of advertisements and making the advertisement and the brand more noticeable. A celebrity’s preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message and hence, because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.  Michael Jordan is Nike’s “Air” and Pierce Brosnan is Omega’s “Seamaster.”

Another invaluable benefit from celebrity endorsements is the public relation opportunities.

Negative impacts of Celebrity Endorsement on the brand

More often talked about is the extreme usage of a celebrity called ‘lazy advertising’, that is inadequate content masked by usage of a celebrity15 . A good example is the use of Boris Becker by Siyaram and Steve Waugh by ANP Sanmar. Also as said earlier, associating with a star, in itself does not guarantee sales. There is also the fear of Brand-celebrity disconnect which points out that if the celebrity used represents values that conflict with the brand values, the advertising would create conflict in the minds of the target audience.

 

Advertisers are using the web as an advertising medium. This is all due to the vastness of the medium and dynamic targeting. Another reason for increasing online ad spends in the advertising budget is banner advertising. This type of online advertising is worth an ad spending due to its effectiveness. This sort of advertisement campaigns are performed with placing banner ads across the web. The banner advertisements are interactive in nature. The banner advertising is done in a way, so that the advertiser gets maximum exposure for its products and services. Now, these banner ads come in different types of formats.

The formats of the banner ads are decided in accordance with the theme and need of the products and services. Dimensions of these banner ads are measured in pixels. Firstly, there are skyscraper ads that come in following formats, which are Wide Skyscraper (160 X 600 pixels) and Skyscraper (120 X 600 pixels). Other skyscraper ads are, which are commonly used are the Super Skyscraper or Half Page Ad (300 X 600 pixels).

In addition to it, there are button banners, which are used in the following pixel formats, Button 1 (120 X 90 pixels) and Button 2 (120 X 60 pixels). Other commonly used button banners are Micro Button (80 X 15 pixels), Micro button banner that measures 88 X 31 pixels and Square Button (125 X 125 or 120 X 120 pixels). The button ads are vastly used over the Internet for banner advertising.

The banner advertising also consists of rectangular ads. These ads are used in formats that are Medium Rectangle (300 X 250 pixels) and Square Pop Up (200 X 200 pixels). In addition to it, the following rectangular banner ads are also used by advertisers often, Vertical Rectangle (240 X 400 pixels), Large Rectangle (336 X 280 pixels) and Plane Rectangle (180 X 150 pixels). These types of banners are quite attractive in appearance.

Now, there are a few traditional types of banners, which comprises of Full Banner (468 X 60 pixels) and Half Banner (234 X 60 pixels). Whereas, a few more that join this league are Vertical Banner (120 X 240 pixels), Micro Bar (88 X 31 pixels) and Leader Board (770 X 60 pixels). These traditional banners are being used since the early years of online banner advertising. These banner ads, along with innovative rich media technology ads, are creating a deep impact over the potential customers or target audience of the advertisers.