Advertising is a modern medium, and its influence pervades modern life. There is practically no area free from its effects, from mass media to consumer products and even to nature itself—billboards obscure our views from highways, and planes drag advertising banners at our beaches. People proudly wear advertisements for soft drinks or fashion de-
signers on their shirts, sneakers, or hats, not realizing that they often spend more for such clothing, paying money to help the company advertise!
According to estimates, children see up to 40,000 advertisements on television every year (TV Turnoff Network, 2005). Studies have shown that advertising has a profound effect on the way children think about the world (forming a mind-set of “products I want to have,” for example), and it influences the way they begin to form their ideas of sexuality and ^ gender roles (Durkin, 1985; Gunter & McAleer, 1990). f