Tilting At The Advertising Windmill

Everyone knows by now that today’s children are subjected to more advertising than any previous generation in human history, and furthermore, that a disturbing percentage of that advertising is aimed squarely at them. But despite frequent warnings by experts about the effect such a barrage of commercialism can have on kids, there has been little public effort to stop, or even scale back, the volume of ads dumped on the average child. Enter the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a “Boston-based coalition of parents, educators, health-care specialists, and advocacy groups” dedicated to wiping out youth-targeted advertising. A bit Quixotic? Maybe. But as the CCFC’s leader puts it: “Who won David vs. Goliath?”