Those hypnotizing golden arches
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- September
- 10
When my soon to be 18-month-old daughter was young, my brother would occasionally feed her and say “nyum, nyum, nyum,” to her as she gobbled down whatever was in her path. Well the saying stuck, so today she continues to refer to food and eating as “nyum, nyum, nyum,” and when it’s especially good she says it louder and with more gusto.
So recently we were riding along in the car and suddenly she yelped out nyum, nyum, nyum. I looked in the rearview mirror wondering if she picked up an old Cheerio from her car seat but, alas, she was gleefully looking out the window with nothing in her mouth. Suddenly, I realized what was going on as we sped past the culprit. It was those famous golden arches.
Mind you, the interesting thing about her reaction is that Zyla has never been inside a McDonalds nor has she ever eaten a happy meal, fries or any McD fare, for that matter.
How did she equate the ubiquitous brown and yellow eatery with food, I pondered. I don’t let her watch television, but when I asked my mother—who watches her all day—how this could have happened, she matter of factly said “she saw it on TV.”
“But I told you I don’t want her watching television,” I protested.
“Well you and your brothers and sisters watched TV, and I don’t see any problems with all of you,” she shot back.
I have this thing about letting Zyla watch TV, mostly because her pediatrician said no TV until she’s at least 2 and also because I read this book–I’m forgetting the title—about the power of marketing and your child. Basically, it was about how ads get you to buy things you don’t need and how they start targeting kids at a very young age.
I witnessed firsthand how a commercial triggered a reaction in my daughter’s very young, impressionable mind, and I was a bit saddened by the whole episode. I want her to grow up making decisions on her own, not ones based on an advertisement. But how can I say that when we’re all somehow lured in by the power of marketing.
I guess I was sad because a little bit of her innocence was stolen and she’s too little to even realize it. Such is life, I guess. But then again, who can deny their French fries?
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 3:06 pm by Marcela Rojas.
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This also reminds me of how people will take a small child with them to an R rated movie and say it doesn’t have any impact. Obviously, it does!
My daughter was able to spot MacDonalds golden arches at a mile away and often yell out ‘Macdonalds’ as we were driving and have us scouring the distance trying to see where she had spotted the logo.