CHILDREN AS CONSUMERS: CHILD-DIRECTED ADVERTISING AND CONSUMERISM CULTURE

Uključenost djece i mladih u svijet potrošačke kulture i konzumerizma postaje jedno od glavnih obilježja suvremenog djetinjstva. Potrošačke navike djece i mladih sve više određuju odnose s drugima, a u konačnici i prema roditeljima. Potrošnja je još krajem 18. stoljeća postala masovna, a od 21. stoljeća prerasta u hedonističku ideologiju posjedovanja proizvoda i stvari često nepotrebnih ili nefunkcionalnih. Ovdje veliku ulogu igraju marketinške kompanije, a oglašavanje usmjereno prema djeci dokazalo se kao enormno unosan posao. Masovni mediji i reklame manipulativnim strategijama djeluju na principu proizvođenja lažnih te neograničenih potreba i želja, sve u cilju preodgoja djece i mladih kao doživotnih kupaca. Proizvodi, njihovi brendovi i slogani koncipirani su tako da obećavaju prividno diferenciranje od drugih, stvaranje statusne pripadnosti skupini ili kreiranje ukusa potrošača. Konzumerizam je u ovom radu analiziran kao sociokulturni fenomen, koji postaje pogubna ideologija zavođenja za djecu i mlade potičući ih na pretjeranu potrošnju. Najnegativnije posljedice u odgoju vidljive su na toj populaciji, jer se umjesto razvoja osobnosti prvenstvo daje posjedovanju stvari. Osim toga, roditelji se ne prezaju izlagati svoju djecu medijskoj eksploataciji, a da pritom čak niti nisu nužno i primarno rukovođeni samo materijalnim interesima, već upravo pukom aspiracijom k slavi njihove djece i njih samih. To je cijena fetišizacije proizvoda, medijske tiranije, hedonizma i svekolikog otuđenja kada mediji upravljaju ljudima.Inclusion of children and young people into the world of consumer culture and consumerism is becoming one of the main features of contemporary childhood. Consumer habits of children and young people increasingly determine relationships with others, and ultimately towards parents. Consumption became massive at the end of the eighteenth century, and from the 21st century it became a hedonistic ideology for the possession of products and things that were often unnecessary or ineffective. Here a great role is played by a marketing companies, and child-directed advertising has proven to be a tremendously lucrative job. Mass media and advertising manipulative strategies work on the principle of producing false and unlimited needs and desires, all in order to upbringing children and young people as lifelong customers. The products, their brands and slogans are designed to promise illusory differentiation from others, create status groups or create consumer tastes. Consumerism is analyzed in this paper as a socio-cultural phenomenon, which becomes a pernicious ideology of seduction for children and young people, encouraging them to over-consumption. The most negative consequences of upbringing are visible in this population, because instead of personality development, the championships are given to possession of things. Additionally, parents are not afraid to expose their children to media exploitation, even though they are not even necessarily primarily guided by material interests, but by their aspiration to the glory of their children and themselves. This is the price of product fetishism, media tyranny, hedonism, and total alienation when media manage people