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Grr!!! Menactra commercial  

post #1 of 13
1/14/09 at 1:59pm
Thread Starter 
My son is watching Yo Gabba Gabba and a commercial for the menactra vaccine just came on. There is a group of kids all happy and playing, and the voice says something like, "This is what somethingorother meningitis looks like right before it claims a child's life."

Now is that appropriate for a kids' channel during a popular kids show? My son is not quite 4, so he didn't understand it (although his attention was glued to the commercial ) but I think that's a scary thing to show and tell kids. Fearmongering towards the preschool crowd. Grr! :
post #2 of 13
1/14/09 at 2:00pm
And the indoctrination begins...
post #3 of 13
1/14/09 at 2:10pm
That is horrible! DS loves that show, and he and DD on cold, winter days do spend time in front of Nick Jr. I was annoyed that they were seeing any commercials, didn't realize that they'd be seeing things that might actually scare them in that way.

It's completely inappropriate to direct the ads to the children--sick even. It's one thing to try to scare adults during primetime. Or, even to scare teenaged girls during primetime (try the 50,000 Gardasil ads during Gossip Girl). But, to do that to kids? To me, this is more than indoctrination when shown during a kids' TV show. They're not trying to get the kids, but to get the parents through guilt, blame, and fear. Yet, the side effect is that the kids, themselves, may become scared. (And, let's say the vaccine is awesome, never hurts anyone and works perfectly--the effect may still be having scared kids running around.)

DD will not be happy, but TV watching is going to have to change around here--On Demand or nothing.
post #4 of 13
1/14/09 at 3:48pm
Thread Starter 
I know. Generally we watch the Disney channel when he wants to watch TV in the mornings, where there are no commercials. But he does really like Yo Gabba Gabba and the Backyardigans, and they are both on Nickolodeon. I'm not happy about all the commercials. There are also a lot of toy commercials, which has started the "I want that!" thing.

I'm definitely not one of those strict no-TV parents. It's very cold here, and we only have one car so we are stuck at home all the time. Without TV we'd probably lose our minds. (Well, I would.) I don't love the commercials for toys, but they don't make me mad. Scaring kids into wanting shots DOES make me very mad.
post #5 of 13
1/14/09 at 3:54pm
I've never even heard of Yo Gabba Gabba...I guess I'm about to get a crash course when the baby comes, huh?

I agree, I hate child-targeted advertising.
post #6 of 13
1/14/09 at 5:56pm
FYI - All the Nick JR shows end up on Noggin (commercial free) It's the only thing we let DD watch.
post #7 of 13
1/14/09 at 6:07pm
That is disgusting to hear!!! That commercial is just about as bad as it can get. Start recording it and then edit out commercials all together.
post #8 of 13
1/14/09 at 7:14pm
terrible! can you imagine a child saying to his/her mom "I need to go get my shots so I don't die!" ugh.
post #9 of 13
1/14/09 at 7:17pm
People are beginning to break away and question it all now, so now they are starting in on the kids so they grow up thoroughly terrified. (gag) The whole fact that there are advertisements for vaccines shows that it is nothing but a big business!
post #10 of 13
1/14/09 at 8:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fyrestorm View Post
FYI - All the Nick JR shows end up on Noggin (commercial free) It's the only thing we let DD watch.
Oh, that's good to hear. I did ask DD if she's seen any commercials while watching TV, and the only commercial she could remember seeing was one about Lysol. More of a sponsorship, really. And, about promoting reading for all kids. I'm 99% sure that this was on Noggin. So, I feel better now that that's what they've been watching. I would hate to think they'd been learning about awful diseases and seeing vaccine commercials!
post #11 of 13
1/14/09 at 8:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by megababymomma View Post
terrible! can you imagine a child saying to his/her mom "I need to go get my shots so I don't die!" ugh.
THAT makes me scared. I'd hate for my child to be worried about DYING (what a terrible thing for a child to think about)
post #12 of 13
1/14/09 at 10:09pm
Thread Starter 
Good to know about Noggin. Thanks for the info! I'll make sure he doesn't watch Nick any more. That really irritates me.

And honestly, even if I were a vaxxing mom I don't think I'd want my kids to see that. Thinking about vaccinations is MY worry and MY responsibility. My kids do not need to know a thing about it at their age. And they certainly don't need to see happy, healthy children and then hear a voice over about some of them dying! Ack!

Maybe we should start a letter writing campaign to Nick about it.
post #13 of 13
1/14/09 at 10:11pm
: ...and we love Noggin.
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Mothering › Forums › Health › Vaccinations › Grr!!! Menactra commercial