One of the biggest critiques of television is that it is promoting a consumeristic, materialistic and individualistic society through advertising. In their book The Impact of Television Advertising on Children (1996) New Delhi: Sage Publications, Namita Unnikrishnan and Shailaja Bajpai seek to reach out to individuals - parents, teachers, policymakers, and even children - in the hope that it may initiate a debate on the future television and advertising in India.

Children are most vulnerable to advertising since they do not oftentimes have the skills and experiences required to process advertisng messages in the context of their reality and needs. TV advertising suggests to children that their redemption lies in high levels of consumption and that happiness is defined by the products that are now becoming available.

After conducting a 15-month study with children of different socio-economic backgrounds in Delhi, Unnikrishnan and Bajpai found that:

-Almost every child in Delhi is a TV viewer and they cannot envisage their lives without a TV set;

- Indian children are more aware today than their parents of products in the marketplace and are reorienting their priorities to keep abreast with the changing economic environment;

- Many children are beginning to believe that the India and Indians they see in TV ads are the only ones worth emulating and learning from. Levels of dissatisfaction (and frustration) with what they have are now noticeably higher since TV advertising is imposing an image and expectation of life that is completely alien to the vast majority of Indian children;

- Television advertising is accepted as a given and there is little questioning of either the nature or content of advertising. Few attempts are being made to engage children, or adults, into a critical debate on the values and lifestyles that TV advertising advocates.