When the child goes shopping with its parents and sees the product on the shelf, the memory resurfaces and the child asks for the product. Other animated characters associated with food products, are the Trix rabbit, the Flintstones, the leprechaun for Lucky charms, and the Quick rabbit. The Flintstones is a well known cartoon. Using these characters to advertise a product takes something that children already love and gives it more meaning. Again, these commercials get put into a child's memory bank, and the companies hope is that the child will one day ask for the product.
Toys are another way in which children are targeted.
This is the answer that some companies keep in mind when advertising their product. Cracker jacks is just average caramel popcorn until a toy is put in the box and advertised. The hope here is that the child will remember that a particular brand has a toy in it and will therefore ask for that particular product. Cereal companies are also famous for this type of advertisement. The huge competition between the companies has caused a need for them to somehow sell their products better.