Parents and teachers both should be bombarding Kohl’s with complaints about one of their recent back-to-school ads.
The television ad shows a mother preparing her two children to catch the bus on the first day of school. The music is peppy, the colors are brilliant, and the message is deadly.
The gist of the ad is that
- parents can’t insure that their children will get their favorite teacher;
- parents can’t insure that their children will make good grades, but
- parents can insure that their children go to school wearing and carrying the most fashionable STUFF.
In case any of my readers can’t work it out for themselves, this is what is wrong with this Kohl’s ad:
Children will do their best for teachers they like, but by suggesting that the children may not get “a favorite teacher,” the ad gives the children permission to do less than their best for the teacher they do get.
The academic success of children is closely related to the amount of parental involvement. This Kohl’s ad depicts the woman as a dippy consumer who is completely detached from her children’s education.
Of course parents can insure that their children “get good grades.” They do that by being involved with their children, and by being in communcation with their teachers.
This Kohl’s ad is pernicious. I’d love to know the ages of the copywriters who produced it.
One Response
You’re right on. Such perniciousness prevails throughout our media, films, and society in general.
Children are told:
They hate peas, spinach, and veggies in general.
Teachers are mean.
Insulting words are cool.
Etc, etc, etc.