In 2025, TikTok has become the heartbeat of the digital world, a dynamic social media platform that has revolutionized how we consume content. Since its emergence, the app has become not just a playground for trends and viral videos, but a powerful tool for marketers targeting younger generations. With over 1.6 billion active monthly users worldwide, a significant portion of these are children and teenagers. According to data from the Pew Research Center, 60% of U.S. teens use TikTok, and around 25% of 10- to 12-year-olds have access to the app, further intensifying its impact.
As the app’s influence over young users has grown, so too has its potential as a marketing tool. Companies from a wide array of industries—fashion, entertainment, food, technology, and even education—are clamoring to engage with kids on TikTok. They’re harnessing its viral nature to create campaigns that not only grab attention but create deep emotional connections with young audiences. However, this new frontier for marketing raises significant ethical questions. Should marketers be allowed to target children on such a massive scale? What are the long-term implications of such targeted marketing on children’s development, behavior, and values?
In this op-ed, we will explore the dynamics of marketing to kids on TikTok, how it has evolved, its consequences, and the ethical challenges involved. By diving into real-world examples and highlighting the power and potential pitfalls of TikTok marketing, we will explore how brands navigate the line between engaging kids in creative and responsible ways and exploiting their vulnerabilities.
1. The Rise of TikTok and the Power of Youthful Influence
TikTok’s meteoric rise can be attributed to its algorithm, which focuses on personalized content. The “For You” page curates videos based on user preferences, creating an environment where users can engage with content that speaks directly to their interests. For younger users, TikTok’s algorithm tailors content to what is most likely to captivate them, ensuring that videos featuring popular challenges, memes, and viral trends spread like wildfire. As a result, TikTok has become an unparalleled platform for brands to reach a younger audience in ways that were previously unimaginable.
Younger generations are also shifting away from traditional forms of media consumption, including TV and even YouTube, in favor of TikTok. According to a 2025 report by Digital Marketing Trends, 50% of Gen Z consumers say they prefer TikTok over traditional TV for discovering new products. The app offers a highly interactive and personalized user experience, allowing brands to promote their products through influencers, creative challenges, and meme culture, making it feel more like an organic part of the digital ecosystem rather than traditional advertising.
TikTok’s role in the daily lives of children and teenagers, combined with its unmatched ability to create viral trends, makes it an incredibly powerful tool for marketers. From clothing brands to fast-food chains, all sectors are seeking to leverage the platform’s power to shape the purchasing decisions of the younger generation. For example, McDonald’s has used TikTok challenges to promote its latest menu items, encouraging kids to recreate dances or stunts while enjoying their meals. Brands like Nike and Adidas have also tapped into TikTok’s culture by working with influencers to promote sports apparel, aiming to create aspirational content that resonates with the youth.
2. The Appeal of TikTok to Kids
TikTok’s appeal to children lies in its simplicity and entertainment value. The app allows kids to easily create and share short videos, typically accompanied by popular music, dance routines, and lip-syncing. The nature of TikTok content is highly visual, stimulating, and fast-paced, which is particularly suited to the attention spans of younger users.
For children, the social aspect of TikTok—where they can interact with peers and influencers—is an added layer of appeal. Kids often see their favorite influencers, some of whom may be their age or younger, showcasing products, fashion, and lifestyle choices. These influencers can quickly become trendsetters, influencing children’s tastes, behaviors, and purchasing decisions. Influencer marketing has exploded on TikTok, with “TikTok stars” driving everything from fashion trends to product launches.
TikTok’s ability to turn content into trends and challenges makes it especially attractive to kids who want to be part of the latest viral moment. Children and teens are highly influenced by what their peers are engaging with on the platform. When a brand uses popular trends and challenges to market a product, it can effectively tap into the social dynamics of the platform, making products appear “cool” and desirable.
3. Brands’ Strategies for Engaging Kids on TikTok
Brands have become adept at creating TikTok-specific campaigns that fit seamlessly into the app’s organic content flow. These campaigns take advantage of TikTok’s viral nature and highly engaging format to reach kids where they are most active. Some strategies that brands employ to market to kids include:
1. Influencer Marketing and Sponsored Content: Influencers on TikTok have a massive impact on consumer behavior, particularly among younger audiences. Brands collaborate with these influencers to promote their products, tapping into their large, engaged follower bases. Influencers are often seen as more authentic than traditional advertisements, making it easier for brands to build trust and credibility with younger consumers. For example, fast-fashion brands like Shein and Fashion Nova frequently work with influencers to promote limited-edition clothing lines, showcasing how their products fit into everyday life.
2. Hashtag Challenges: TikTok’s viral nature is driven by hashtag challenges, which encourage users to create and share videos around a specific theme or action. Brands often launch these challenges to promote their products, with the hope that the challenge will gain enough traction to go viral. For example, the #GucciModelChallenge, a trend that encouraged users to show off high-end fashion looks, caught on quickly. By using a hashtag, the brand’s marketing message spreads naturally, while encouraging kids to participate and engage in the challenge.
3. TikTok Ads and Sponsored Videos: While many TikTok users create organic content, brands also use the app’s paid advertising tools to directly target kids. “In-Feed Ads,” which are placed within the user’s content feed, are particularly effective on TikTok because they appear to be part of the natural flow of content. For brands, these ads can be a way to deliver a highly visual message that speaks to the interests of younger users, with ad formats such as “TopView” (full-screen ads) and “Branded Effects” (interactive features).
4. Gamified Shopping Experiences: In response to TikTok’s growing e-commerce capabilities, some brands have integrated shopping experiences directly into their TikTok content. In 2025, TikTok has become a major platform for social commerce, allowing users to purchase products directly from videos. Fashion brands like ASOS and H&M have created exclusive limited-edition collections that are only available through TikTok, enticing younger audiences with the thrill of limited availability and instant gratification.
4. The Ethical Implications of Marketing to Kids on TikTok
While these strategies are effective in generating brand awareness and sales, they also raise ethical concerns. Marketing to children on TikTok presents a range of risks, both for the children involved and the brands themselves. The most significant concerns include:
1. Manipulation and Consumerism: Marketing to children is inherently problematic because children lack the cognitive skills to distinguish between advertising and content. They are particularly vulnerable to manipulative tactics that seek to create desires or anxieties about products. The smooth integration of ads into the TikTok experience, which appears seamless and organic, increases the likelihood that children will be unaware they are being marketed to. This can lead to children becoming overly focused on materialism and consumption from a young age.
2. Data Privacy and Security: TikTok’s data privacy practices have come under scrutiny in recent years, particularly with regard to how the platform handles the personal information of young users. In 2025, data privacy regulations for children are more stringent, but there are still concerns about how TikTok collects and uses user data. When brands target children on TikTok, they have access to a wealth of information about their preferences, behaviors, and purchasing habits. There is a risk that children’s personal data could be exploited for marketing purposes, potentially violating privacy laws or ethical standards.
3. Mental Health and Body Image Issues: TikTok’s culture is built around self-expression, but it also promotes certain beauty standards and social norms that may affect kids’ mental health. The pressure to conform to influencer lifestyles or to achieve idealized body images can be overwhelming for vulnerable children. Brands that promote these ideals through influencer collaborations or challenges may be reinforcing these unrealistic standards, leading to issues like low self-esteem, body dysmorphia, and anxiety.
4. Long-Term Impact on Values and Behavior: One of the most insidious consequences of marketing to kids on TikTok is the potential for shaping long-term values and behaviors. When brands use influencer culture, viral challenges, and gamification tactics to target children, they are essentially teaching kids that their value is tied to consumption and outward appearances. This may set the stage for a lifetime of brand loyalty driven more by social pressures than personal choice.
5. Regulation and Solutions
Given the ethical challenges of marketing to kids on TikTok, many are calling for greater regulation in this space. In 2025, governments around the world are starting to tighten regulations for social media platforms, including TikTok, to ensure that they are not exploiting children. For example, laws such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the U.S. require companies to gain parental consent before collecting data from children under the age of 13. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforces strict guidelines around data collection and privacy for minors.
To ensure ethical marketing practices, brands must:
- Be Transparent: Brands should make it clear when they are marketing to children, helping kids and parents understand the difference between content and advertising.
- Promote Positive Role Models: Brands can partner with influencers who promote positive values, self-confidence, and kindness rather than unrealistic beauty standards and materialism.
- Limit Data Collection: Brands should comply with data privacy laws and ensure that they are not collecting or using personal information from children without consent.
- Educate and Empower Kids: Brands can use their platforms to educate children about responsible online behavior, promoting digital literacy and critical thinking skills.
Conclusion
Marketing to kids on TikTok is a powerful tool for brands, but it comes with significant ethical considerations. While brands can create engaging, viral content that resonates with young users, they must be careful not to exploit the vulnerabilities of children. As the platform continues to evolve, so too will the challenges associated with marketing to a younger audience. By adopting ethical marketing practices, promoting transparency, and adhering to data privacy regulations, brands can navigate this new frontier responsibly. However, it’s crucial that the conversation around ethical marketing continues, ensuring that children’s interests are protected as the digital landscape grows.
