Advertising has had a strong impact on children today. From songs, to logos, to characters, advertisers keep their audience in mind. Competition is the force that drives advertisers to target children. Children are targeted through slogans, animated characters and toys in these competitive advertisements. The textbook used in class (Huffman, 2002) describes that "advertising has numerous" methods to induce the individual to "purchase their products and services." The advertising company surrounds a particular candidate as a child and immediately sinks their teeth into the child's mind to manipulate him into wanting their products. Through TV, cartoons and magazine advertising, children are hit with one subliminal message after another. They are shown how this product will improve their status making them the envy of all their friends. Whether it's a particular food or slogan, a child can be the easiest object for advertisers to prey on. Many types of foods aimed at children have a slogan associated with them. Commercials use these slogans to implant their product in children's memories. An example is goldfish crackers. “I love fish because they are so delicious…” This is the theme of a well-known commercial, advertising Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers. Children chant the slogan repeatedly throughout the advertisement. When advertising runs out of line, the products inevitably get stuck in a child's mind. The advertisement says "...and my mom says it's okay," which implies to children that their parents will allow them to eat this snack. Another example of a product with a compelling slogan is Oscar Meyer's mortadella. “My bologna has a name: it's OSCAR…” Instead of selling the product itself, its purpose is to sell the brand. The Oscar Meyer Company has auditions for Oscar Meyer's next child. Once again, their goal is to sell its own brand. The company also has another product with another catchy song, Oscar Meyer hot dogs “I wish I was an Oscar Meyerwiener…” The emphasis of this phrase is also the branding by Oscar Meyer use children to sing these songs and, like the goldfish commercial, the song has been imprinted into the child's memory by the... medium of paper... and does so without adult supervision. Many children who watch TV are 8 years old or younger and do not fully understand the importance of the subliminal messages that companies send using their cartoons and catchy songs to convince the child to buy their products. I believe that advertising is a modern example of brainwashing and that, without parental supervision or limits, our nation's youth will be so caught up in the power of advertising, that their youth and innocence will end much faster than the previous generation. power of suggestion to sell a product. In the case of children, a company's advertising hopes to suggest that their product is the best. Many food companies target children in the hope that they can influence parents' choices when it comes to purchasing a product. Animated characters, slogans and toys are used to attract a child to the product. WORKS CITED Dittmann, Melissa. (2004, June 6). Protect children from advertising. Monitor onPsychology, 35, 1-4.http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/protecting.htmlHuffman, Karen. (2002). Psychology in action. New York: Palomar College.