A Comparative Study on the Limits of TV Commercial Advertising aimed at Children

Television advertising to children is a sensitive issue because children are easily influenced and like to experiment new things. Children view large amounts of commercial material. Considerable evidence indicates that children have difficulty distinguishing a commercial from the program that they are watching. There are some specific and real harms that advertising can inflict upon children. The proliferation of products, advertising, promotions and media targeted children are of concern to lawmakers, the industry and the public. Many countries sought to restrict advertising for children to reduce the increasing commercial pressure on children. Children's advertising is under attack because it is perceived as “making kids want what they do not need” and this puts pressure on parents to respond to those needs. More recently, advertising is accused of being a factor of children's obesity. This article, comparatively, studies justifications and methods of restricting television advertising to children and classifies the limits to content-based and non-content-based.