In chapter one of Kiddie Lit :The Cultural Construction of Children’s Literature by Beverly Lyon Clark, the issue of the appreciation of children and children’s literature came about. Clark discusses how children are underappreciated in society, but yet many large corporations use them primarily to make a profit. Prior to reading the preface and first chapter of the book, I had never really paid any attention to the negative connotation that is attached with being a child. Many adults dislike being referred to as a child or childish ; there is something about American society tells us that in order to be important you have to be a mature adult.
In the Huggies Pull- Ups commercial, the slogan is “I’m A Big Kid now” and in my opinion this is a direct implication that because the babies now wear Pull-Ups instead of diapers they are more important and more respected by their parents. The main person in the commercial is an older kid around the age of twelve and he is the tour guide at the “Big Kid Academy”. He is projected to be very smart while he is teaching the babies and their parents about the diapers, while the younger children are projected to be incapable of speaking or understanding what he is talking about. At the end of the commercial the older child says “if you want to be a big kid like me, grab some Pull-Ups and enroll in the Big Kid Academy today”. I think the Huggies commercial is a direct example of how children are undervalued, but yet used by society for their gains. Viewing this commercial helped me understand exactly what Clark meant in that section of the chapter.