..While older children and adults understand the inherent bias of advertising, younger children do not, and therefore tend to interpret commercial claims and appeals as accurate and truthful information," said psychologist Dale Kunkel, Ph.D., Professor of Communication at the University of California at Santa Barbara and senior author of the task force's scientific report. (Kunkel, et.al, 2004) The Lego ads, when seen by younger children who "do not understand persuasive intent in advertising," might feel as if the balance of the world really does hang in their hands -- and an older child might be confused by the overlapping techniques of advertising, which blur the lines between advertising with a persuasive ulterior motive to encourage consumption, and entertainment in the form of cartoons. This confusion might be another reason for the greater efficacy of movie and product tie-ins with children's advertising."(Briesch, Bridges, & Kim, 2004) This fact is seconded by J. Van Evra (2004) author of Television and Child Development, who stresses that young children are particularly vulnerable to the influence of commercial advertising, not only because they do not have the cognitive or judgmental capacity to evaluate advertising on a critical level, but because of the intensity in these undifferentiated ads on a level of saliency, as underlined in the current Lego campaign.

Is the Lego robotic spider likely to sell? Very likely -- and if it does not, it is only because other ads even more effectively make use of product tie-ins, media-based story-like advertisements, and other persuasive, intense, and salient aspects of advertising that draw children into watching such commercials,...

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