Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Vanda Kučera, director of corporate affairs, I&F McCann Grupa
Easy question, but the answer isn’t simple, nor is there only one. Information has never been more accessible than it is today, but how does it affect someone who is thirteen or fourteen years old?
When the Media Association suggested that we “go into the classroom” and help those who have already stepped into the world of media to understand the information given to them, I immediately accepted. The opportunity to talk about the safety and quality of advertising with children – who on the one hand have already developed their own views and quite clearly communicate them, and on the other hand still have plenty of space and need to learn – was a real challenge.
The pilot project Do You Understand the Media was launched last year and is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Serbia. We looked for answers to that question in six towns in Serbia – in six different primary schools. Our audience and participants were pupils from Obrenovac, Paraćin, Loznica, Valjevo, Vranje and Zrenjanin.
One of the key objectives, as asmedi defined it, was to educate children aged 13-14 about the nature and importance of media content – how it is created and how it should be “read”. We conducted the project in several phases – from a survey we conducted with elementary school children in order to get better acquainted with their current understanding of the media, to lectures, and the evaluation and selection of the best examples.
My topic was advertising – what is advertising, what are the media through which brands can ‘address’ us, how do products, companies and brands communicate with us, and, most importantly, what is an “appropriate ad” and what does it look like, what is an ethical message and what is not, and how can we distinguish ethical and appropriate messages from those that are not.
Looking at some new, but also some very old ads and videos, both domestic and foreign – some that are in accordance with the law, but also some that are not really OK or are on the border, and some videos and ads of big famous global products and brands that have even been banned – we talked with the pupils of these schools and discussed what makes a good ad and what doesn’t, and what each of us who is exposed to advertising every day should know.
We analyzed newspaper articles and exposed those whose primary aim was promotion; we showed what “hidden advertising” is. Together we read ads that talked about products based on true facts, and those based on untruths. Based on these examples, the pupils were able to conclude by themselves how important it is that the message that a product or brand is sending is based on true and verifiable data and claims. It was encouraging that, while being together with elementary school pupils, we could observe their attitude that an OK ad or commercial is one that doesn’t offend anyone, that doesn’t incite violence, doesn’t promote inappropriate behavior, doesn’t encourage anything that might be a hazard to health. We also highlighted products that are definitely not intended for them, as minors, but are still advertised because the law allows it – pointing out how such advertising is allowed – and also products whose advertising is completely prohibited.
To conclude, at least for now. I don’t want to talk about what they heard and learned from us, as participants in this short but very substantial project, but what we – what I – learned from and with them. How my faith in the principled way we at I&F McCann Grupa think and work was renewed. It’s about responsibility – true responsibility in every sense of the word. Maybe this sounds like an over- used and hackneyed concept, but I’m absolutely sure that none of us would go wrong if while doing what we love every day we repeated it at least once, thought about it, and made a decision with responsibility. The media are responsible for everything they publish, write about and broadcast, advertisers are responsible for the products they sell to these children, and we are responsible, as agencies, who, together with our clients, create messages that promote these products and brands.
Sometimes there’s a fine line between what’s okay and what isn’t. An entertaining and original message can very easily become a message that has a bad connotation, that promotes something problematic. So, it is very important that we, as participants in communication, constantly cultivate sensitivity in ourselves to the sensitivity of these children. The importance of this is evident in the classroom; children also watch ads that are not meant for them. They quote them and know very well what their function is. We indirectly influence the formation of their life attitudes and habits. It is important, therefore, that all of us who are part of the media world, are acutely aware of and conscientious about this. After all, these children are our future.
And speaking of the future – I am not worried about the future of advertising. There is certainly no lack of creativity and originality in these schoolchildren.
This text was originally published on the website of the magazine Vreme.