Lelli Kelly’s All Made Up

Has anyone seen the recent Lelli Kelly adverts for girls shoes on television? My three year old watches Milkshake on Channel 5 in the mornings and I cannot believe that they are advertising make-up for girls with these shoes.

The shoes always come with free gifts and normally these have been toy pets and beaded jewellery. This particular range comes with free make-up. The 7-8 year old girls in the advert are shown applying make-up and looking very dolled up.

Is this the image we want our children to copy? Tarted up girls whose natural beauty is hidden under caked layers of make-up. Where does this take vanity? For me this is growing up too quickly. Thankfully, my daughter’s response to this advert is “Mummy, girls don’t wear make-up do they. It is only for adults”. The importance of good parenting under such influences cannot be underestimated.

I have already written to Channel 5 and the Lelly Kelly brand about this and will keep our readers informed on their response.

Television has a responsibility to advertise appropriately and consider the images they are portraying. I am disappointed in Lelli Kelly. Their shoes are gaudy but fun. My daughter loves them but I will not be buying a pair which includes free make-up.

Bunty

Posted on April 12, 2011 at 10:15 am in Daily Musings & Ponderings | RSS feed | Reply | Trackback URL

Tags: Advertising, Brand, Channel 5, Children's television, Girls, Lelli Kelly, Make-Up, Milkshake, Shoes, style, Underage

12 Comments to “Lelli Kelly’s All Made Up”

Bubbly
April 13, 2011 at 6:21 am

Hi Bunty

Interesting post, cute shoes!

Make-up can be just a fun thing for girls to play with and they get bored of. I am one of 2 sisters, I was quite a girly girl and played with my mum’s make-up and indeed was made up all the time by one of my aunts who was only 10 years older than me. To her I was a living doll! My sis was a real tomboy and wouldn’t have touched the stuff.

I don’t necessarily think it’s bad parenting to lets kids play with make-up as long as they know it’s a treat and know, like your daughter said, that make-up is for grown ups.

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Bunty
April 13, 2011 at 7:30 am

Playing with your mum’s make up is totally different to a brand advertising make-up for children. The advert promotes young girls wearing make-up as this is the way girls should look. I am sorry, but as a parent with two girls where girls are being exposed to looking sexual and adult are coming too early. I feel that chldren’s tv has a responsibility in what it advertising. In Sweden, children’s programming is taking seriously in the influence it generates and does not advertise at all. I am not saying we need to go down this route, but we do need to consider the world we live in and it is different from when we grew up.

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Vakeel Bibi
April 13, 2011 at 11:55 am

Well this is all marvellous isn’t it – we now have children in padded bras, make-up and I have even seen mums with their girls in HIGH HEELS for god’s sake.

The advertisers will, no doubt, try and say that all little girls want to pretend to be grown up but there has to be a limit.

Or are all little girls expected to grow up and cultivate eating disorders, bad skin through using so much make-up and bunions?

All little boys want to grow up and be like Dad .. so why don’t we sell them razors so they can practice shaving or a real drill so they can put up some shelves? I joke of course, I have never met a man that can put up a shelf (unless he’s paid to do so).

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thechatterjis
April 13, 2011 at 2:46 pm

My friends 8 year old daughter came round the other day with blue eye shadow, blusher and lip gloss. I was shocked! Her mum says that she threw a tantrum to wear it. I say, let her carry on throwing the tantrums – where will this end!

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Vakeel Bibi
April 13, 2011 at 6:15 pm

I don’t mind my little nieces wearing make up as long as it’s for fun and the make up doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals. To be honest they just want to have a dabble and then they normally end up washing it all off when they get bored.

If you ban make up from a girl that WANTS to wear it then you risk making it into a far more desirable thing … however, I see your point, I certainly would not wish my nieces to regularly wear make up. My mother never banned us from wearing make up but also did not encourage it – my sister started wearing a little make up when she was about 16 and I didn’t wear make up until I was 19!!!

What I object to is advertising in this way and making little children into consumers.

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Anonymous
April 14, 2011 at 4:33 pm

Aren’t we forgetting to have a little fun here? You sound a little judgmental of your friend. If an 8 year old girl wears blue eyeshadow, then it is not a big deal. The blue eyeshadow and blusher sounds hideous and isn’t supposed to make her look attractive, she is just playing grown-up. It is you that are sexualising a small child. She and her mom are fine.

My mom let me wear make up and yes, even when we went to other people’s houses – it was only fun make up so blues, hot pinks and glitter. My younger brother used to wear it too as he wanted to copy me.

I did not grow up to work the streets as you insinuate, I am an oncologist.

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Sparkle
April 15, 2011 at 7:55 pm

I work in an environment that is targeted at little girls who are like the above mentioned and I think it is perfectly healthy for little girls to want to be ‘grown up’ like their mothers, auntys, sisters etc

All the products that we sell are manufactured for children so have no harmful chemicals in them and some of the colours are so light that they can barely be seen, it is more the act of putting on makeup that is fun for them. So like the Lelli Kelly make-up I would imagine it would be play make-up.

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thechatterjis
May 10, 2011 at 2:32 pm

An interesting video sent in by one of our readers that highlights issues surrounding children wearing make-up. The peer pressure for young girls to look beautiful is associated with make-up. Girls get bullied for not wearing make-up. In the US alone, cosmetics is a $40million a month business and 8-12 year olds is the biggest growth market for cosmetics.

Newsround’s blog on this subject also indicated the peer pressure to wear make-up and that many girls felt ugly and insecure without make-up.

Is this the message we want to be sending to our children – you are ugly unless you wear make-up????

Bunty

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Anonymous
May 11, 2011 at 10:49 pm

Look I think everyone is having diff conversations. There is a difference between allowing your girl to play around with silly make up and allowing your girl to wear make up for school.

Girls have been playing grown up for generations, read Jane Austen. It doesn’t mean that this promotes vanity, promiscuity or indeed bullying.

If you ban make up you are likely to make it far more desirable than it needs to be.

If society is changing in the way you say that is sad but it is to do with a new Facebook self-absorbed society, not because you rub a little strawberry lip balm on your girl. She will face the same pressures regardless of how you try to bring them up. Trying to compete with their peers is futile.

Sit back watch the ride and hope for the best. You turned out ok so your kids have a head start

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Pint Sized
August 31, 2011 at 9:43 pm

Some of you sound a bit mental – nothing wrong with girls dressing up as long as they know it’s just for fun. Saying that these shoes need to be banned purely on aesthetics

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Tall Girl
May 26, 2012 at 5:00 pm

LOL.

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anouk003
August 1, 2022 at 9:56 am

My thoughts exactly! Disgusting advertising and they should be made accountable.

Reply

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