Strollerderby : marketing to children

Happy Meals Flunk Out of School

Madeline Holler — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:39:00 GMT

On the one hand, I think it's great that a Florida McDonald's is withdrawing from a "Made the Grade" program, in which it rewarded Happy Meals to kids who got good grades. On the other hand, why was this going on at the school in the first place? The decision to end the program came all the way from the executives at corporate headquarters half-way across the country -- not the school leaders.

In a nutshell, here's what happened: a parent saw the jacket of her child's report card had the McDonald's golden arches, the "Made the Grade" program details and menu items like McNuggets printed on it. She complained to an activist organization that opposes marketing directly to children at schools. Under pressure, McDonald's agreed to end the program and pay for reprinting the report cards.

The decision was made “because we believe the focus should be on the importance of a good education,” William Whitman, senior director for communications and public affairs at McDonald’s USA in Oak Brook, Ill., said Thursday. “McDonald’s, not the school district, will cover the cost to reprint the report-card jackets,” he added, and “remove our trademarks.”

That's great that McDonald's took responsibility in ending this practice, particularly after recent promises to cut back on advertising to children. But still, the school leaders who entered in to the "Made the Grade" arrangement have some responsibility here too. They're the ones who offered up the kids to be marketed to (in exchange for much-needed money, I'm sure. Still.)

Here's what the organization that fought to end this sponsorship said:

“In the absence of needed government regulation to protect schoolchildren from predatory companies like McDonald’s,” she added, “the burden is on parents to be vigilant about exploitative marketing aimed at children.”

Sad but true.

I'm no junk food purist -- we stop at McDonald's plenty on long car trips. Sometimes, there's no other option. (And who doesn't love a fat, blisteringly hot bag of those fries? Those fries!) But I don't like rewards for grades for sure (topic for a different post). And I especially don't like advertising in schools. There, I am a purist. If corporations want to help schools, they can make a large donation without anything in return -- no naming rights, no nothing. Just give the schools the money and feel good. But they don't get to come in and have their logos and tastes and smells and smiling happy clowns and gushing, awesome candies and cool refreshing drinks become a part of kids' daily lives without a fight from those who have their best interests in mind: the parents and schools (or so I thought).

What do you think? A free meal's a free meal?

Why Tweens are Too Young for a Brazilian Wax

Madeline Holler — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:34:00 GMT

Jeez, I can think of a million reasons, the first of which: is there anything to wax?

The other 999,999 reasons … come on. I know we’re sexualizing girls at younger and younger ages, but 10? Waxing her pubes?

Apparently, you're never too young for this Australian website, read by girls aged 9 to 14. In an article about Brazilian waxing, they try hard to make the case:

So why does it appeal. Nobody really likes hair in their private regions and this removes it.

In another article (yes, more than one on the site), there's this description of what exactly happens. The good news is, I feel like this might deter all but the most goaded young kids.

Wax is smeared onto the mons, the cloth is pressed into place...then they turn the music up loud...rrripppp. It's quite normal for the waxer to throw your legs over their shoulder, or ask you to moon them so they can get the strays. The waxer then goes over your red bits with a pair of tweezers to pluck out recalcitrant strands.

Why does “pluck out recalcitrant strands” make me cross my legs?

One Australian writer, appalled by the notion that some celebrate getting rid of the just-grown hairs of adolescence, gives us a rundown of how things are going in the land of kiddie hair removal. (And you say marketers aren't savvy.)

As a cosmetic pharmaceutical company, Nair is obliged to reinvent normal bodily functions as problems with handy product solutions. And the Australian arm of the company has claimed its target audience is slightly older, in an attempt to distance itself from the US campaign, which involves phrases such as "Pretty isn't a look. It's a feeling," "Nair will leave your skin smooth and totally touchable!" and this pearler from Stacey Feldman, vice-president for marketing at Nair's parent company, Church & Dwight: "When a girl removes hair for the first time, it's a life-changing moment."

Life-changing, indeed! Now, about teaching girls the proper names for body parts, better add “mons” to the list so the little tykes know exactly what they're getting in to.

Social Networking Sites Target 8-year-olds (Successfully)

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Sun, 27 May 2007 22:01:00 GMT

Interacting with online users in a 2D world. Sharing music. Swapping stories. Creating avatars. Keeping up with friends. Sound like you? Perhaps, but it's also true of a growing segment of the social networking audience: 6- to 8-year-olds.

Thanks to sites like Webkinz, Club Penguin, Barbie Girls, Nickelodeon's Nicktropolis, and Disney Extreme Digital, kids in this age group are spending about 45 minutes a month in front of computers keeping up with their social networking sites. While this may not seem like a lot of time, it cuts into TV viewing time which is exactly what these sites want. Parents: this is your wake-up call.

"These tweens have a crosshairs on their backs," said Liz Perle, editor-in-chief of Common Sense Media, a nonpartisan San Francisco organization that evaluates media. "The corporations know if they can get (young customers) now, they will establish brand loyalty for life."

Parents that once worried about older kids hanging out on MySpace now have cause to be concerned about their younger children. Perle believes that 6-years-old is too young to be social networking and that an hour of screen time is appropriate for 8-year-olds.

This still seems like a lot of time to me. My eldest (almost 5) is blissfully ignorant of the computer. I suppose it's because my husband and I are so addicted I'd like to postpone the experience with my kids for as long as possible.

Perle adds, "A 6-year-old should be learning how to work out social situations on the playground, where you can read someone's facial expression -- not on some two-dimensional Web site where if an (avatar of a) penguin doesn't want to talk to you, he turns his back and walks away."

Word.

International Toy Fair 2007: Movie Tie-Ins Galore (God Help Us)

thezeroboss — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 13:31:00 GMT

(Filed by correspondent Michelle Kung from the 2007 International Toy Fair)

Transformers isn't the only 2007 summer tent pole aiming to keep your kids clamoring for tie-in merchandising. The following three titles aim to give Optimus Prime and Megatron a run for your money.

Shrek the Third (May 13): Shrek (Mike Myers), Fiona (Cameron Diaz), Donkey (Eddie Murphy), and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) are all back in this new adventure as the big green guy must track down Prince Artie (Justin Timberlake) and convince him to be king. Your daughters will try to convince you that you need to get them the kung-fu kicking Princess Dolls and talking plushes, while your sons will insist on helping fling slugs into Shrek's mouth for a Bug Bounce.

Ratatouille (June 29): The newest film from Pixar is written and directed by The Incredibles' Brad Bird and centers around Remy (Patton Oswald), a French rat who yearns to become a chef. Mattel has recreated Remy and his rodent buddies in various plush and plastic forms (who knew rats could be so lovable?), as well conjured up a Mousetrap-like interactive board game that involves flinging chips and releasing (plastic) chopping knives.

Spider-Man 3 (May 4): In addition to baddies Venom and Sandman, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) must deal with an even greater villain in Sam Raimi's actioner: himself. While Sony/Columbia is keeping tight wraps on many of their numerous licensee's products to prevent too much plot spoilage, some of the more active toys being prepped for a spring 2007 release include video games, plastic figurines and collector's pieces, Hasbro's Spinning Web Blaster, a wrist attachment that shoots out silly string-like web fluid, and, yes, a Mr. Potato Head Spider Spud.

God's Little Gold Mine

Patti — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:32:00 GMT

I was raised in a pretty strict and conservative Christian church, and let me tell you what, back then we did not have swag. The closest we ever came was this bracelet that you made at Vacation Bible School that had different colored beads on it, and each bead represented a different important thing about Jesus which I can't actually remember except the red bead was for blood, because, duh. The whole What Would Jesus Do? phenomenon didn't hit until I was in high school or so, and by then I was a total existentialist who believed in pretty much nothing but maybe getting a boyfriend some day, and WWJD was not my guiding philosophy toward that end. In any case, there were no Jesus Princesses in my youth. Plenty of bracelets, no princesses.

A decade or so ago when I was deep in the throes of misspent youth, I sometimes babysat for a friend, and her kid watched Veggie Tales. And I remember thinking "Hey, that's smart, a cartoon with a Christian slant. I bet they'll find a nice little niche for themselves". Boy, did I know how to call 'em. Little did I know that Veggie Tales was only an opening salvo in the marketing of Christianity Culture. Make way for Gigi, God's Little Princess. Looking like a cross between Eloise and Fancy Nancy, Gigi is apparently a response to the princess phenomenon that nobody with daughters seems to be escaping (if you can't beat 'em, etc. etc.). You can insert your own snark about Disney Princesses not being subservient enough here; I've shot all the fish in that barrel.

Recently Princess Gigi's had some serious success: the top Christian children's DVD of 2006, and the top selling Christian children's book "The God's Little Princess Devotional Bible", and a whole empire of other crap, with (probably) more to come. And fear not, parents of boys, your sons can bask in the glory that is Will, God's Mighty Warrior. Because girls are princesses, and boys are warriors, get it? Good.

While my churchgoing days are, except for holidays, pretty much behind me, I can't help but feel wistful for the days when I cheerfully went to Sunday School because I took it seriously, not because I had a bunch of paraphrenalia to inspire my devotion. When the prevailing wisdom was that Christianity meant humbleness and charity, not a full-scale marketing attack. When the bracelets were made out of pipe cleaner and plastic beads, not pink marabou. What would Jesus do? I have a guess.