Advertising derives its name from a French word “advert” which means ‘bring to notice’. The concept has been existing with us for several centuries. With the advent of printing technology in the fifteenth century, advertising flourished as an industry. The first printed advertisement in English appeared way back in 1447 as a pamphlet in London. It announced the sale of a prayer book. However, the first newspaper advertisement was published in 1625 on the last page of a London daily.

During the early 18th century, the concept of paying for advertisements developed. The art of detailing a product in short catchy phrase using attractive layouts helped manufacturers to persuade people to buy more. The fast development of radio and T.V. enhanced the importance of advertising.A sharp rise in literacy and a spurt in the growth of global markets made advertising so important that almost one fourth of any commercial business budget was reserved for ad expenditure. Of the various mass media available in India, the T.V. perhaps has become the most persuasive of all, particularly for the children. T. V. has reached even the remote rural areas, thus covering more than half of the total population of India.

The network has expanded to cover almost the entire geographical area of the country. The impact of the unrestrained blitz of advertisements on children cannot be under estimated. Often the first words that a child speaks are picked up from T.V. advertisements. Nowadays, the advertisements for even the children’s products have become more violent and dangerous. By trying to imitate the dangerous stunts shown in advertisements, many children have even lost their lives. The Indian government has no doubt appointed a Advertising Standard Council to keep a watch on the advertisements for any vulgarity, indecency and violence. But still a stringent measure has to be taken to protect the young minds from bad influences. The manufacturers, advertising agencies, consumer educating bodies and even the parents should join hands to curb the ill effects of advertisements on the children by conducting workshops and awareness programs.