Early Children's Food Advertising and the Emergence of the Brand-Loyal Child Consumer
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Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository December 2011 "Aren't They Keen?" Early Children's Food Advertising and the Emergence of the Brand-loyal Child Consumer Kyle R. Asquith University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Daniel Robinson The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Kyle R. Asquith 2011 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Public Relations and Advertising Commons Recommended Citation Asquith, Kyle R., ""Aren't They Keen?" Early Children's Food Advertising and the Emergence of the Brand- loyal Child Consumer" (2011). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 317. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/317 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “AREN’T THEY KEEN?” EARLY CHILDREN’S FOOD ADVERTISING AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE BRAND-LOYAL CHILD CONSUMER (Spine title: Early Children’s Food Advertising) (Thesis format: Monograph) by Kyle R. AsQuith Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the reQuirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Kyle R. AsQuith 2011 THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION Supervisor Examiners ______________________________ ______________________________ Dr. Daniel J. Robinson Dr. Alison Hearn ______________________________ Dr. Edward Comor Supervisory Committee ______________________________ Dr. James Côté ______________________________ ______________________________ Dr. Alison Hearn Dr. Matthew P. McAllister The thesis by Kyle Robert Asquith entitled: “Aren’t They Keen?” Early Children’s Food Advertising and the Emergence of the Brand-loyal Child Consumer. is accepted in partial fulfillment of the reQuirements for the degree of Doctorate in Media Studies ______________________ _______________________________________________ Date Chair of the Thesis Examination Board ii Abstract This dissertation examines how American food advertisers approached children in the early twentieth century and how this conceptualization changed during a critical juncture that lasted from approximately 1928 until 1945. Prior to the late 1920s, national advertisers acknowledged children as “consumers” (that is to say, eaters) of food and celebrated their idyllic innocence; however, advertisers rarely addressed children as active participants in the consumer marketplace. This perspective changed due to new commercial media platforms, such as radio and comic strips, as well as changing attitudes within the business community. By the 1930s, food advertisers began to communicate with children as a direct audience in a significant, strategic, and consistent manner, effectively positioning children as brand-loyal consuming subjects for the first time. Although parents and consumer activists pushed back against marketers, these groups were largely unable to contain food advertising to children. This business, cultural, and political-economic history considers the following three research questions: (i) Why, and in what broader contexts, did national food advertisers begin targeting children in earnest? (ii) Using what strategies did these advertisers attempt to draw children into the marketplace as brand-loyal and demanding consuming subjects? (iii) How did food advertisers, their agencies, commercial media, and market researchers grapple with, valorize, and construct children as a valuable audience segment? My analysis incorporates extensive iii primary research from a variety of archival sources. I examine advertisements and papers from the advertising agencies that represented key food brands, including Cream of Wheat and Post. I also review the advertising trade press and numerous marketing practitioner textbooks. These latter sources provide a “back-stage” view of the industry and allow me to understand how early advertising practitioners approached, valorized, and socially constructed young people as a market segment. Keywords: children; food; advertising; branding; consumer culture; advertising history; media history; political economy of media; market segmentation; consumer activism. iv Dedication This work is dedicated to my grandmother, Audrey Nixon. Many admire her wisdom and strength. She also ate her fair share of Cream of Wheat in the 1930s. v Acknowledgments On an afternoon in August 2010, a University of Western Ontario librarian left his post at the circulation desk to help me search for a lost treasure: 40,000,000 Guinea Pig Children, a remarkable 1937 critiQue of children’s food marketing. Crawling through dust on his hands and knees, the librarian eventually located the book, which had fallen behind a shelf. The text became the centerpiece of chapter six. This anecdote is a reminder that a dissertation is, first and foremost, a product of people--especially the people willing to crawl in the dust. A number of individuals have crawled through real and figurative dust for me. I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to Dr. Daniel Robinson for his efforts as my dissertation supervisor and academic mentor. I first sat down with Daniel in August 2007, two weeks before my first semester as a Ph.D. student. Since that day he has generously devoted time and energy to help me navigate through life as a scholar. A heartfelt “thank-you” also needs to go out to the many other Media Studies faculty, program administrators, and staff who offered support. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Alison Hearn, Dr. Edward Comor, Dr. Nick Dyer-Witheford, Cindy Morrison, and Wendy Daubs. Beyond my program, I must also thank Dr. Matthew P. McAllister for being such an encouraging external examiner. Scholarships and bursaries from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Hagley Museum and Library, the Business History Conference, and the University of Western Ontario made this research possible. vi However, funding alone did not guarantee success. My success locating primary sources can be attributed to the archivists and staff with whom I worked during the winter, spring, and summer of 2010. I would like to thank Lynn Eaton and Joshua Larkin Rowley at Duke University’s Hartman Center, and Carol Lockman, Marge McNinch, and Linda Gross at the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware. Locally, I must also acknowledge the many University of Western Ontario librarians who enthusiastically helped with my unusual requests, which also included pulling several hundred dusty volumes of the advertising trade press from off-site storage. Completing a doctorate was, of course, a challenge. Throughout the process three groups of people helped me maintain enthusiasm and motivation. First, I consider myself lucky to have been surrounded by so many great colleagues and friends in the University of Western Ontario’s graduate program in Media Studies. A select few Ph.D. students must be named here: Andrea Benoit, Chris Richardson, Gemma Richardson, Jennifer Martin, Michael Daubs, Tiara Sukhan, and Trent Cruz. These friends provided me with advice, reassurance, and laughs. Second, I would like to thank the undergraduate students I have taught in the Media, Information, and Technoculture (MIT) program. The enthusiasm of both my colleagues and students consistently reminded me that universities remain wonderful places to spend a few years--or perhaps decades. Finally, my family fully supported my academic journey, offering understanding, encouragement, and more “tangible” services like proofreading. vii Table of Contents CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION ....................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................................ vi LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 The Critical Juncture, 1928-1945 ........................................................................................... 4 Extant Literature ........................................................................................................................... 7 Research Objectives, Questions, and Key Definitions ................................................. 16 Chapter Outline ........................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 2 - THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS .................. 24 Theorizing Children’s Consumption .................................................................................