Toy advertising is the promotion of toys through a variety of media. Advertising campaigns for toys have been criticized for trading on children's naïvety and for turning children into premature consumers. Advertising to children is usually regulated to ensure that it meets defined standards of honesty and decency. These rules vary from country to country, with some going as far as banning all advertisements that are directed at children.
History
The commercial sale and marketing of children's toys only became popular in the mid-18th century. Before this, children had access to relatively few toys, and of those toys in use, most were hand-made, either by the child or a close relative.Kline, S., Out of the Garden: Toys, TV, and Children's Culture in the Age of Marketing, London, Verso, 1995, p. 145; Brown, K.D., The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700, London, Hambledon Press, 1996, pp 12-14 Toys that were in common use from at least medieval times were basic items such as hoops, tops, balls, and dolls, which could be turned out by local carpenters or coopers. A scattering of toy shops traded in 17th-century London but were virtually unknown outside the capital. A small number of mechanical toys were imported from France and Germany, but these were expensive and beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest families.Brown, K.D., The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700, London, Hambledon Press, 1996, pp 12-14
A broader interest in children's toys and games coincided with the emergence of a middle class when fewer children were expected to work. The 18th-century attitude towards toys was that they should be educational. Accordingly, toymakers designed their products to prepare children for adult life.Cross, G., Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood Harvard University Press, 2009, pp 17-19 For example, a rocking horse taught children to balance and prepared them for horse riding. A doll prepared girls for motherhood and child-rearing, while toy soldiers taught young boys about the military. From the outset, commercially produced toys were remarkably gendered.Cross, G., Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 52; p.67 and p.80
By the mid-19th century, technological developments such as the invention of sheet metal stamping machines facilitated the mass production of inexpensive toys, notably tin toys or penny toys. Other technological developments included the advent of paper mache and "India" rubber molding machines, which effectively lowered the costs of manufacturing dolls. To stimulate demand for toys, it was necessary to encourage parents to purchase them for their children. However, to do that, it was necessary to shift attitudes towards toys, to promulgate the idea that children were children rather than 'adults in training' and that toys were developmentally useful.Cross, G., Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood Harvard University Press, 2009, pp 18-20
Toy manufacturers were latecomers to modern marketing and advertising techniques. The earliest commercial toymakers relied on standardized mass-production manufacturing techniques, with an emphasis on achieving economies through long production. Designs and models were rarely changed. Toy design was conservative and always aimed at securing parent approval. Toymakers rarely attended the international exhibitions.Brown, K.D., The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700, London, Hambledon Press, 1996, p. 45 Early advertising appeared in wholesale and retail catalogs, where advertisements appeared alongside mousetraps and match holders. Advertising messages were targeted at parents and spoke of the toy's educational value as well as its durability. Toy advertising rarely showed children using the toys. The tenor of toy advertising and marketing was that adults decided what toys were appropriate for children.Cross, G., Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood Harvard University Press, 2009, pp 20-23
Demographic and social changes were beginning to affect attitudes toward toys and children's play throughout the 19th century. The decreasing size of families meant that children had fewer siblings and that toys became an important diversion and source of entertainment. Rising living standards and wages meant that parents had more disposable income. Middle-class children remained in education for longer periods, with the implication that they had less time to make their own toys and were more reliant on commercially manufactured toys.Brown, K.D., The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700, London, Hambledon Press, 1996, pp 52-53 By the late 19th century, parents were beginning to appreciate the special needs of childhood and that toys were more than just preparation for the real world; they could also offer a retreat from mundane realities.Cross, G., Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 51
In the 1890s and early 1900s, a toy trade press emerged on both sides of the Atlantic. In England, the Toy Trades Journal first appeared in March 1891; the Sports Trader appeared in 1907; and the short-lived Games, Toys and Amusements journal appeared in 1908.Brown, K.D., The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700, London, Hambledon Press, 1996, pp 61-62 In America, Playthings magazine was launched in 1902. These trade-oriented journals began to publish articles advising toymakers and toy retailers on methods for optimizing sales of children's toys.Cross, G., Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood, Harvard University Press, 2009, pp 18-20
By the late 19th century, toymakers were beginning to adopt modern marketing practices. Manufacturers and distributors began using mail-order catalogs to reach consumers directly. Montgomery Ward, for example, produced a catalog listing 23,000 items, including toys. The new department stores began to include toys in window displays in which goods were featured as part of an artistic fantasy. Toymakers began to develop a unique style or personality that could be linked to a company name or brand. Advertising for toys began to appear in consumer magazines. Advertising messages encouraged mothers to take their children shopping with them and to watch how they interacted with toys in order to identify the child's preferences.Cross, G., Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 30; Brown, K.D., The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700, London, Hambledon Press, 1996, pp 31-32
By the mid-20th century, the traditional approach of marketing through mothers (also known as the "gatekeeper model") was waning. Children, who by this time were the recipients of pocket money, made individual purchasing decisions as part of their education in the world of consumption.Schor, J.B., "The Commodification of Childhood," in Stephen J. Pfohl, Van Wagenen, A., Arend, P., Brooks, A. and Leckenby, D. (eds), Culture, Power And History: Studies in Critical Sociology, Lieden, Brill, 2006, p. 100 Television broadcasting in the mid-20th century provided toymakers with the ability to reach national children's audiences. In the late 20th century, the merchandising of film and TV characters in the form of dolls or figurines gave toy marketers access to international audiences.Cross, G. and Smits, G., "Japan, the U.S. and the Globalization of Children's Consumer Culture," Journal of Social History, Vol. 38, No. 4, 2005; Kline, S. “Toy Marketing and the Internationalization of Children’s Television,” in Paul Rutten and Monique Hamers-Regimbal, Internationalization in Mass Communication and Cultural Identity, Holland, Sommatie, 1995
Campaign strategies and intentions
Toy advertisements are aimed at three target audiences: children, adults (especially close relatives such as parents or grandparents), and toy retailers. Different messages and media strategies are used for each target group. To gain the attention of children, advertising messages might focus on products with brightly colored, fast-moving designs or associations with heroic characters from film, TV, or books. Packaging can enhance the attractiveness of a toy. When advertising toys to adults, the educational benefits to the child are often promoted. When promoting toys to retailers, the ability of a product range to generate store traffic and profits is likely to be mentioned.
Children up to the age of five can find it difficult to distinguish between the main program and commercial breaks. This holds particularly true when a toy range is linked to a television series they are watching. Many children do not understand the intentions of marketing and commercials until the age of eight.Patti M. Valkenburg & Joanne Cantor. "The Development of a Child into a Consumer. Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 63, 2001, pp 655–668. Media literacy programs such as Media Smart are being used to help children understand and think critically about advertising.
Children are not easily persuaded to want something. Advertising is only part of the picture. Children's interests in a particular toy are likely to arise from word of mouth and peer pressure. Two-year-olds spend about 10% of their time with other children. This rises to 40% between ages 7 and 11.K. A. Updegraff, et al. (2001). Parents' involvement in adolescents' peer relationships: A comparison of mothers' and fathers' roles. Journal of Marriage and Family 63, 655–668. The term "pester power" refers to children nagging their parents to buy a product. Some children will repeatedly ask them to buy a toy they want, and such insistence often leads to a purchase. There is a regulation in place that bans advertisements from directly exhorting children to buy advertised products or persuade their parents to buy the products. Advertisers sometimes try to stimulate word-of-mouth promotion of products.
Many toys are directed towards one specific sex, and advertising is tailored to meet their particular needs. There are biological as well as social and cultural reasons for boys' and girls' different toy preferences.Gerianne M. Alexander, Teresa Wilcox, & Rebecca Woods. (2009). Sex differences in infants’ visual interest in toys. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 427–433.
Like other consumer products, toys may also be offered as sets. While each one may be affordable, it may be an investment to "collect them all".
Intentions