Currently advertising can be represented in many ways: as a business, a fundamental ingredient of entrepreneurship or as an alternative way of communicating (William F. 2004). Originating from ancient times, its main purpose is to sell a product. William F. (2004, 6) claims that “every consumer is exposed to hundreds or even thousands of advertising messages every day”. We see advertisements everywhere: on TV, banners, websites, magazines, newspapers, sporting events or even printed on teacups, and all this is done with the aim of attracting our attention. However, there are some advertisements targeted at a particular group of people, depending on age, gender, interests or even religion. These advertisements are defined as targeted. Companies such as McDonald`s, Calvin Klein, Victoria`s Secret and Coca-Cola successfully practice targeted advertising, selling clothing, fast food, perfumes, underwear and other products. For decades, targeted advertising directed at children and adolescents has been a rather controversial issue. Every year, young people are exposed to 40,000 advertisements on television alone, not counting the number of advertisements on the Internet or on billboards. This exposure may be responsible for excess weight in children and alcohol and tobacco use in adolescents (Strasburger 2001). Despite the existing positive effects of targeted advertising, the negative impacts significantly outweigh them and it is clear that targeted advertising causes significant harm to children's education, health, psychology and social life. This essay will evaluate the impact of targeted advertising on children and adolescents by considering its possible positive and negative effects. Which include obesity and "sexualization"... at the center of the paper... Sale of teenagers. Cambridge, MA: Perseus. (accessed March 6, 2011) Span P. 1999. Marketers bank on affluent teenagers' every wish. Albuquerque Newspaper. 3 (accessed 6 March 2011) Strasburger, V. C. 2001. Children and television advertising: nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. J Dev Behav Pediatr. (22): 185 –187 http://journals.lww.com/jrnldbp/Citation/2001/06000/Children_and_TV_Advertising__Nowhere_to_Run,.6.aspx (accessed March 4, 2011) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2007. The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesWilliam F.2004. Contemporary advertising. McGraw–Hill: NYYoo, C. 2008. Unconscious processing of Web advertising: Effects on implicit memory, brand attitude, and consideration set. J Interact with the sign. 22 (2): 2-16 (accessed March 6, 2011)