commercial obsessions

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My son has always been fascinated by commercials. I think at times he would rather watch an infomercial than a cartoon. Does anyone else have experience with this? If he sees me take some money out of my wallet, he'll say "Look mom, it's the money you could be saving with Geico." Or sometimes he just comes out with "Billy Mayes here with an amazing new offer" for no apparent reason at all. He does not watch a lot of TV, but if I have the news on or something and he hears a commercial that interests him, he will drop whatever it is that he is doing and come running over to watch. As soon as the commercials are over, he'll go back to playing. Sometimes, it really is rather hilarious, but maybe I should be more concerned. He's already a confirmed Aspie, but should I be worried about his future consumer habits? We are a no-name-brand kind of family and very aware of how powerful advertising can be. Or, am I reading way too into this? Just curious.

Actually, though there are plenty of bad commercials on television at any given moment (IMHO Geico has yet to come up with a good one), in this day of moronically contrived pseudo-reality garbage television, the commercials are often the most creative stuff on. My childhood obsession with media led to a thirty year career in broadcasting, so he might just be grooming himself for work in a particular field.

I think I worry about the literal thing, and how he seems to believe the catch phrases. That is going to be a touchy one to explain, because you don't want him to start seeing the whole world as full of lies, either (a very easy conclusion for our literal Aspies to reach). How old is he? There is really funny Arthur book about believing TV commercials too much. Admiring the "art" is one thing; falling for the message is another.

You know, that sounds very familiar, where have I heard that before...

O right, I did the exact same thing when I was younger. I wouldnt worry too much about it. Just explain to him that the commercials dont always tell the truth, and that he shouldn't trust everything they say. Also explain the concept of limited funds. I dont know how old he is, but your best bet would be to give him money instead of toys for his birthday/Christmas, and let him buy the toys and games he wants. That way he can learn first hand that he has limited funds, and that he should buy things that he will enjoy. If he winds up buying something from an infomercial with his birthday funds, and then finds it useless, then thats his problem. He could have had something else more useful instead, but was up to him.

Sometimes people learn best by making mistakes. Best to let him make mistakes and run out of money while he is still young.

I probably should have mentioned that he's only 4, but he has been speaking commercial since about 2. I do think the literal aspect may be something to watch more closely. He also has a need for things being the same, so at the grocery store, he gets disappointed (no fits) when I buy the store brand instead of the brand he saw a commercial for. But I tend to stick to my guns and have no intention on changing my buying habits. He does occasionally receive money and is allowed to make his own choice at the store, and that has worked well. Our family chooses not to buy a lot of stuff and, thankfully, he is often happy enough just to go to the store to look at toys. We'll see how it goes. Maybe he does just enjoy the art of it. A career in advertising would not be such a bad thing.

When my son was younger it was the tv guide channel. This was before he was diagnosed and I was a first time mom. He seemed sooo intrigued with it and it was mainly words, so I let him watch it for his daily TV time! LOL, looking back that seems funny. But as he got older it was the commercials. I think it may be because they are fast paced and repetitive. He also went through a phase of blurting out the lines, but when he got older I figured out that in his mind there was definitely a connection to what was going on, like the money triggering the geico line.

Don't let your children watch commercial TV!

Those SOB's spend millions of dollars to convince your children that they must buy this or eat that.

Would you invite a pervert into your house to corrupt your children?

Well, that is just what you are doing!