In Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock tests children using pictures of famous people, such as George Washington, mixed in with a picture of Ronald McDonald. What was appalling was that these children could tell stories about McDonald, but knew little or nothing about the famous people. One child thought that Washington was the third or fourth and abolished slavery. Are the advertisements to blame for these children’s extensive knowledge or McDonald or are the schools to blame for the lack of knowledge about historical figures?
Children are not told to memorize facts about McDonald as they are about Washington. Children are not made to do project after project on McDonald, as they are Washington. Yet it is McDonald that sticks in these children’s brains. Perhaps the schools would do well to take a few notes on the advertising strategies of McDonald’s.
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This post reminds me of an old test that an anti-smoking ad campaign did. They showed pictures of famous people and the children responded similarly and when the researchers showed the drawing of Joe Camel, from Camel cigarettes, the children knew exactly who it was. After that test, Joe Camel was not allowed to be used in Camel ad campaigns anymore.
Should we do the same with Ronald McDonald? Is he a threat to the lifestyle of today's children, just as Joe Camel was?
Is it that maybe the children see the advertisements over and over again for these two, but when was the last time you saw an ad with George Washington?
Also, by the time children are at the age of six or seven, do they really know the names and faces of more than one president. I did some research and found, at scholastic.com that children were not exposed to the Presidents yet. But at another site, based on the Virginia public school system, the website said that 1st graders should have been introduced to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Carver. It honestly depends on the school that you go to. Morgan Spurlock could have chosen a school that he knew did not include Presidents in the first grade curriculum, just to get his point across. This is very common in documentarians, as we know from Michael Moore's Farenheit 911.
Well advertisements are meant to capture the audience and make them remember things, whether important or not. Alluring cartoons and catchy phrases are too blame. But schools should try to make learning historical figures more entertaining. Then again some teachers just don't care and why would they when their wagers are less then flattering. So education should be made more fun, but these ruthless companies need to lay off the children.
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