Youth of today, eh?

I'm currently reading Consumer Kids: how big business is grooming our children for profit, by Ed Mayo and Agnes Nairn. The premise is that a range of companies selling things kids tend to like, for example sugary foods, clothes and computer games are being ever more inventive in worming their way into children's lives. Particularly useful to them seems to be developing loyalty to brands as soon as, or even before, children become consumers, so that these early habits continue to influence their buying choices when they get older.

It's entirely plausible and, I have no doubt, true. The bit that trouble me is, can we say for sure if this is a good, bad, or indifferent development in society?

The authors seem confident that it's a bad idea to condition children so early as consumers. But what if we were conditioning them to be sustainable consumers? Surely it's the principle that sustainability thinkers have been pushing for years. Get kids into the idea that wasteful products, excessive food miles, over-packaging and so on are bad things, and recycling, renewable energy and local produce are good things, and walking and cycling are cooler than driving. Then these values will stay with them as they grow up and gradually society will become more sustainable on a generational basis. Furthermore, they can pester their parents and grandparents to be more sustainable too. Good? Good.

So here's the rub: if the brainwashing of children was being pursued for morally splendid consumer choices, we'd probably be quite relaxed. But consumer choices that skirt the suburbs of repugnance are highly lucrative, and therefore are the ones more prone to trying out a spot of expensive subliminal messaging. In other words, we're making a value judgement as to what children should be brainwashed about, rather than whether or not brainwashing is a good idea.

I'm not sure it stacks up. I'll just get another [insert branded sugary drink here] and then see if I can work it out.

AW.