Power of Pester
We have seen how McDonald’s takes advantage of environments beyond parents’ control to brand and sell its products to children. But that’s not the only way McDonald’s overcomes the reservations parents have with buying unhealthy food for their children.
As one advertising executive has put it, “we’re relying on the kid to pester the mom to buy the product.” The aggressively studied, honed, and employed tactic to which this executive refers is affectionately termed “pester power” by those in the children’s marketing industry.
Lucy Hughes, former VP of Initiative Media, explains, “If we understand what motivates a parent to buy a product…if we develop a creative commercial that encourages the child to whine…that the child understands and is able to reiterate to the parents, then we’re successful.”
Advertisers understand that it takes a lot of fortitude for a parent to continue to say no, when saying yes is the path of least resistance. They also understand that even health-conscious parents are inclined to give-in after a long day at work or after busily shuttling kids from school to soccer practice to piano lessons and beyond. Not only have they classified nagging tactics into seven major categories from pleading nags to pity nags, they’ve even gone so far as to categorize parents according to identified stress factors and conditions (such as income, marital status, and guilt) that make a parent more vulnerable to the nagging of their children.
So even as McDonald’s is telling parents that they “deserve a break today,” they are encouraging children to nag and pester their parents for the advertised products, taking advantage of parent’s innate desire to make their children happy.