Tara Mulvany

On the way to playschool recently, my 4 year old pointed at her classmate’s shoes and said: 'Look Mammy. He's wearing Geox. They're breathable!' I gasped. A couple of weeks later she said: 'Mammy, can we go to Disneyland Paris? They've got hotel rooms and you can get packages with tickets for the park.' When I asked her how she was so knowledgeable, she said 'The women on the tele said it.'

She's watching too much TV I hear you say. Not so, in my view anyway. We limit TV viewing as much as possible and encourage play, arts, crafts, reading, games, you name it! But tele, however limited, wins over every time in terms of influence, message recall and its simple ability to mesmerize my 4 year old.

The impact of brand saturation on tiny brains worries me. But then I think back to my own childhood and practically being applauded by my parents for my ability to rhyme off the jingles to the ads. It was as though being an advertising parrot was some early sign of genius. It's not just TV, my husband reminds me that the tour of the Coca Cola factory on the Naas Road was one of his happiest childhood memories. He arrived home with Coca Cola rulers, erasers and a pencil case. Free stuff is cool.

Don't get me wrong, I've worked in the FMCG sector for years. I've been part of the marketing teams that sell children's brands. I know from firsthand experience that advertisers and marketeers of children's products in this country are far from the 'evil geniuses' they're portrayed to be. They are responsible professionals, mums and dads, who adhere to strict internal and external guidelines on marketing and advertising to children, as well as statutory codes. It's not in their interest or the interest of their brand to do otherwise. What's more, national broadcasters can be as regulated or as responsible as they want. Meanwhile, my kids are watching Nick Junior.

The question is, how harmful really is advertising to our children? And how much more powerful is it over parental control. I know only too well that there are truck loads of research on the subject. But my household is not a statistic. My daughter can think Geox are as breathable as she likes, she's not getting a pair! She can repeat the sales spiel on Disneyland Paris until the cows come home, but she'll be spending her summer holidays in a campsite in Kilmuckridge again this year.

It has to be about balance. As parents, we have to ask ourselves if we too get caught up in the hype. Is that little boy in the Coca Cola factory still inside all of us? Young or old, we all have an ad we love. Christmas started when we heard Penney's had a whole lot of things. We all embarrassingly danced to the Guinness 'da, da, da' ad in nightclubs around the country (well I did anyway). And who didn't want to know if the Nescafé neighbours ever got it together?

Brands, through ads, can mesmerize. But as parents, it's important to remember that a pair of Geox is €60, but free stuff is still cool.