There's this particular kind of marketing I just hate: where a company will put out a brochure or press release full of advice and tips, and then slide in a big section on their product and why it is so very appropriate for the very issues at hand. Lots of stuff is marketed to parents this way. There's something about this tactic that feels extra manipulative to me, like if your therapist turned to you mid-session and said, "You know, I think this brand of toothpaste would absolutely help you resolve your issues with your mother." Of course, you already give money to the therapist.
Teen Spirit by Lady Speed Stick deodorant has a whole downloadable "Tween Scene" brochure on how to talk to tween daughters about body image. Teen Spirit deodorant presumably smells like... teen spirit. (Kurt, I miss you.) Some of the advice is okay, like give her a specific compliment every day and support her in physical activity. Other stuff is a joke, like encourage her to smile (creepy mom says brightly "smile, honey!") and get all into IM and suff like that to communicate with her. As if you could ever hope to master tween text messaging shorthand.
Oh, and there's lots of advice on how to bond over buying deodorant, when tweens might need deodorant, that you should show her how to put it on (rocket science, here) and that physically active girls might have more sweat and body odor. Now I just suspect they encouraged sports for girls in an attempt to bring new customers into the fold. So let's amend the earlier statement: this crap sells like teen spirit.
