Is it unethical for African children to hold up signs to express birthday wishes or promote advertisements? Can children get wages?

Today, as videos of African children shouting and holding up signs to express their wishes are becoming popular, many people are also asking this question: is it appropriate to use children holding up signs to express their wishes? Some people in the industry say that this is a deception to children and should not be done. What I want to say is that this is a typical case of talking without any pain.

Africa is relatively backward and poor, which is a real problem. The most basic requirement of poor people is to have enough food to eat. The videos shot by African children for the Chinese are not free. The local team will pay the children, which their parents are very happy about. It is also an important source of income for them to supplement their family income. According to the author's understanding, the children can earn about 30 yuan a day (the normal daily salary of an office worker in Africa is about 20 yuan), and they shoot for several hours a day. Some filming teams shoot children who are not in school, and some filming teams shoot children who are in school after school. The photographers are all local Chinese who have businesses, and they shoot in their spare time with the aim of helping these children and improving their extremely poor living environment.

However, what I want to say is that, like many ethical problems, this one is somewhat of a "dilemma" and it is not easy to make a black-and-white judgment. Supporters would say that this is a win-win situation: advertisers get traffic, people who need blessings get them, couples express their love and enhance their relationship, service providers make money, and African children also make some income. Opponents would say this involves the issue of consuming children. Some people say that the way to judge an action is to put yourself in it. So, if someone used your child like this, would you be willing?

Then let’s go back to the blessing. The advertisement itself is a very interesting new case. However, some basic principles of thinking also apply to such cases. We don't want to jump to conclusions, just do some open-ended thinking. After all, how we understand something ultimately depends on each person's ranking of values.