Essential objectives of advertising in all areas are the same: advertising should

• convey a positive image,
• generate needs and desires,
• inspire people to buy,
• increase turnover and awareness and
• arouse interest in a brand, product or service.

Advertising concepts can be geared precisely to the respective goals and the desired target group, in our case the children. Advertising on television, radio, the Internet and apps tries to intensify its messages by means of frequent repetitions and permanent presence. This high frequency is intended to help the target group better absorb the messages. This can, however, create a great deal of pressure, especially on children as it is difficult for them to escape the frequent and recurring advertising messages. In addition, this can be very frustrating for children since the children's awakened consumer wishes usually remain unfulfilled. However, keeping children completely away from advertising is not a solution. It is more important to pre-select appropriate media content for the children, to accompany them when they use media and to start strengthening their media literacy at an early stage in the domain of advertising.

Watch the videos in our video resources to learn more about the impact of advertising on children. How Advertising Rewires Kids' Brains shows how advertising affects children - both mentally and physically and in which areas children are confronted with advertising. Sofia Rodriguez-Dantzler also gives a powerful description from a childs point of view.

To limit the effect of advertisements on school-age children, it is very important to talk through the advertisements with children and encourage them to think about the goal of the advertisement. To learn more have a look at our source Advertising: how it influences children and teenagers that is linked in our resources section.

At this age, children are usually already very active with various media. They therefore come into contact with a wide variety of advertising formats. Even if they know the basic intention of advertising and that it serves to sell products, they do not question every advertising message. This is where they need support from parents and educational staff. Advertising messages can be dangerous for children. We have listed two articles in our resources with a view to dangerous marketing practices that show why a critical approach to advertising content is so important and needs to be trained.

It is a good idea to emphasise those advertisements that children see frequently. Parents could ask their children questions about the different claims in the promotional messages. What is the product in this advertisement? What is it for? Who is it for? They could also ask their child about the strategies used to sell a particular product. This will help them understand how advertising makes products seem more appealing.

Before handing over to parents you should have a go on advertisements you have seen. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Does advertising make you feel something - for example, happiness, a desire to belong, or fear?
• Does the ad feature popular celebrities or sports stars to promote the product?
• Does the ad connect an idea to the product - for example, does the ad make people look younger or smarter when they use the product?
• Does the ad promote the product by giving you something for free - for example, do you get one month for free if you sign an annual contract?

You could do this also at your parents evening. Show a common block of advertisements and ask parents these questions. They will get a better feeling why it is important to question what we see in ads and they will be able to help children to realise that they can't believe everything they see on TV or social media.