Cute kids have been hawking wares for corporations ever since the advent of the idiot box, and in print long before that.
Those old enough to have children of their own probably remember the finicky four-year-old named Mikey from the Life cereal commercials.
We can only assume that advertising executives made the connection between cute kids and captive audiences long ago, and have since exploited it relentlessly.
But some kids step outside the confines of the world of corporate advertising and venture out on their own.
And there is, perhaps, no start-up business better suited for seven-year-olds than the lemonade stand.
With little overhead and a helping hand from mom and dad, pre-teens can cut their teeth in the exciting world of profit and salesmanship by flashing their cutest smiles and displaying adorable hand-painted signs.
The Kool-Aid people are all about giving people something to drink for “pennies a glass," so a child's 50-cent-a-cup business plan is remarkably lucrative.
But going into business has its pitfalls.
In Pontiac, Michigan recently, three teenagers made off with the Mickey Mouse jewelry box that held the profits of a lemonade stand run by four young girls.
The cops have since apprehended those responsible for the $40 heist and the lemonade stand is back in business, with $1 a cup sales and donations starting to add up.
"We're close to $100! Some of it's going to charity and some to us," said Serena Behan, 9, one of the young entrepreneurs.
In Oregon, however, it wasn't thieves that ruined the day for seven-year-old Julie Murphy's lemonade stand business.
Julie got the idea after watching a cartoon about a pig named Olivia with an entrepreneurial bent.
But officials in Multnomah County cracked down on the girl's unlicenced operation, sending her packing — but not before a "very big scene" with her mother and health department inspectors.
""Our role is to protect the public," Jon Kawaguchi, environmental health supervisor for the county, told the Oregonian. He noted that county inspectors "must be fair and consistent in their monitoring, no matter the age of the person."
Julie’s 50-cent-a-cup business model probably wasn't based on the $120 licence required to operate.
As bad as things played out in Oregon, the children running a lemonade stand to raise money for their church in Montgomery, Ohio were left gaped-mouthed and traumatized after an ugly incident.
Last month, a 35-year-old Ohio man pled guilty to public indecency not long after he had exposed himself to the children ages 6-9 that were running the street-side stand.
An AP report on the incident said the man "ordered two cups of lemonade and fondled himself." He was tracked down after a licence plate number and description of his vehicle were supplied to police.
The incident is a black mark on kid-operated lemonade stand start-ups the world over, a cost of doing business that no child should be subjected to.
However, not every lemonade stand buyer is a pervert and not every municipality cracks down on street-side operations run by innocent lemonade-selling kids.
In Greeley, Colorado 8-year-old Olivia Zadkovic wanted to help out after the playground at the local elementary school was burned-out by illegal fireworks.
So, like any quick-thinking entrepreneur, Olivia went down the well-traveled path of the lemonade stand, and raised an incredible $370 in just three hours to help build a new one.
According to the Greeley Tribune, lemonade sold for 50 cents a glass, "but many people donated $5 or $10 to the school fund."
“This is really neat,” said Olivia. “It was just an idea I got at the dinner table one night and now everybody's coming.”
Beyond the profit motive, whether the money is going to charity or to fatten a child’s piggy bank, the benefits of hawking lemonade go far beyond mere numbers.
Erica Sandberg, author of Expecting Money: The Essential Financial Plan for New and Growing Families, said that lemonade stands teach children such things as savvy preparation, self-reliance, fair pricing, confidence and, the kicker, that work can be fun.
"Everyone should associate employment with enjoyment, not drudgery,” says Sandberg. “The sooner kids understand that it's possible to work and still have fun, the better."
Of course, though perverts and health inspectors can sometimes ruin the day, most children learn valuable life lessons when turning thirst-quenching drinks into a sidewalk business success.
“That a dollar is not merely a piece of paper, but a symbol of time, energy and effort,” says Sandberg. “Will they be less apt to waste it? As a mom to a seven-year-old lemonade stand veteran, my answer is yes.”