Children are being trained and exploited as consumers almost from birth,
says Eric Clark, with market forces determining much of what they view
and play with.
Toy companies are making marketing assaults on children younger and
younger. Not long ago the earliest age at which children could be
targeted was reckoned by advertising and marketing men to be five. As
competition between companies became more cut-throat, it dropped to
three. Now children as young as a few months old are considered fair
game.
Mike Searles, as president of the American company Kids R Us, made the
memorable comment, If you own this child at an early age, you can own
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