I've seen a few commercials on TV recently that cause me to furrow my eyebrows and ask, "Who is running their marketing department anyway?" Granted, I am more than a little on the conservative side; some might even use the adjective "prudish". But their ads are having an adverse reaction on me. Maybe they don't want parents to buy their products. Maybe I'm not the target audience.
But I'm proud of my son for recognizing a company's lack of morals. A little boy dressed like Batman for Halloween approaches a house where he finds a bowl of candy with a sign which reads "Please just take one." He puts a piece of candy in his bag and contemplates taking another one. Just as he decides to do the right thing and only take one, an adorable little girl in a bee costume arrives. With her pigtails bouncing, she grabs a fistful of candy and shoves it in her pumpkin container. Batman points out that the sign says to only take one, and she replies, "I can't read." And the little thief walks away as she rolls her eyes.
And C's comment? "That's wrong." Without any prompting from us, he knew that wasn't the right thing to do. I do worry that as our society makes light of lying, stealing, and cheating, most children won't see a clear line between right and wrong. Like the little Bee, they will think the children with morals are the dupes.
