Ads Gone Bad

Liz Perle, editor-in-chief of the group Common Sense Media, said advertisers are selling more than a product. They are marketing a complete sexual lifestyle. "Kids are exposed at younger and younger ages to more and more sexually graphic material. When you show an ad that showcases shortcuts to those things, you're not just selling underwear or T-shirts, you're selling whole ways of being." Perle is correct when she insists that hyper-sexual ads using teenage models (or twentysomething models that pass for teenagers) creates a template for what could be considered normal behavior for a teen, and she insists that advertisers shouldn't be allowed to use teenage models (or younger) to peddle that message: "I'd just say to the creators of these ads, ‘Put your 12-year-old girl or boy in front of them and see if you repeat them' …... [read full story]