Well, December is upon us and whether we are ready for it or not, Christmas is just around the corner and with all the rushing around and last minute shopping and high anxiety that entails it is always good to stop for a moment and contemplate the true meaning of the season: The release of Lord Of the Rings Part III! But seriously, this is the time of the year when consumerism switches into high gear and more stress is generated over what to buy than at any other time. It is therefore very unnerving to see this story about the plans of one company that happens to be the parent company of the one I work for that wants to exploit the guilt of parents by targeting their kids to influence them on the purchase of big ticket items. Called "kidfluence", the idea is to run advertising during kids programming for items the parents should be buying, hoping the kids who see the adds will harass the parents into getting the latest SUV, stereo equipment and the like. It's a very twisted concept that these big corporations have no qualms about exploiting. It's bad enough that kids are bombarded with ads for things that they want but it's getting really sick when advertisers have to target people through their children. It makes parenting in the new millennium that much more difficult.

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