Strollerderby : marketing

Will Toy Tie-Ins Destroy Sid the Science Kid?

JeanneSager — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:03:00 GMT

I'm not sure how to take the announcement that HASBRO has gotten the contract to start filling the shelves with Sid the Science Kid toys.

Happy my little scientist can cuddle her own bouncing blue-haired, sweet snub-nosed kid? Or sad that I have to be that much more careful opening the Sunday paper, lest she get hold of the circulars and find an advertisement for the latest Sid the Science Kid toy?

It would be hypocritical to say I'm above the toy tie-in tug. Heavens knows how many Sesame Street balls, cars and stuffed friends are bouncing around this house. Not to mention the Dora pajamas the Yertle the Turtle puzzle, the Bob the Builder coloring books. The latter two are even inherently educational - giving me a bit of moral high ground on the issue - but I'm still not going to claim to have stood my ground on the commercialization of childhood.

Still, I groan everytime my daughter learns there's a toy tie-in to one of her favorite shows. She'd been watching Handy Manny for two solid years without every requesting anything Manny . . . until someone (my brother maybe?) gave her the toy book from the Thanksgiving paper. She literally ran from family member to family member as fast as three year old legs could carry her, shouting, "Handy Manny, what I always wanted. Handy Manny!" She didn't care WHAT Handy Manny toy she got, as long as she found Handy Manny under the Christmas tree. Bless my in-laws, they found one packed with all his tools so we could at least put her through her paces on learning the difference between a wrench, a hammer and a saw.

We don't buy every toy that hits the market, and we wouldn't even if we could afford to. But so many of those that infiltrate our house - gifts usually - come in because of that tie-in to a beloved character, and they sorely disappoint. What's the use of celebrating Dora if the doll speaks only English?

That's where the toy tie-in announcements bum me out as a parent. Are we going to be stuck with another hunk of junk that someone ends up gifting our kid's way, just because it has Sid/Dora/Pooh Bear/Uniqua/Cookie Monster. . . on it? Come on toy makers, do you have to do this to us?

With the promise that Sid the Science Kid has shown in getting my little scientist to think up big answers for his big question, I hold out hope that when they get the toys rolling, at least they respect the promise the show has made to parents. Their plucky little kindergarten provides entertainment that keeps kids thinking, and it's not half bad for parents either. It's not mind-numbing nonsense, so the toys should be more of the same.

Keep crossing your fingers - the first array of games and toys from HASBRO is expected to hit shelves this fall. The big question? Will we be stocking them under the tree come winter?

Image: PBS

5 Things That Make You a Breastfeeding Nazi . . . And 5 Things That Don’t

Miriam Axel-Lute — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:01:00 GMT

Ah, breastfeeding and formula. It seems like forever since we’ve been able to talk about infant feeding without immediately getting sidetracked into the explosive meta discussion about how we should talk about it, or, more often, how we shouldn’t.

The ability to discern between truth-telling and guilt-tripping seems to get a little hazy to all involved sometimes. In the interest of lancing the boil I present the following cheatsheet on how not to become a breastfeeding Nazi—and how not to see them where they are not.

Part 1: 5 Things That Make You a Breastfeeding Nazi

1.   Making disparaging comments to parents giving bottles to their kids.
I shouldn’t even have to say that this is Not OK, and I think it is rarer than some on the defensive would like to make out, but apparently strangers hissing “Shame on you, you should be breastfeeding” does happen. So let’s just get this straight: You don’t know what the story of that parent/caregiver and baby are (or even what’s in that bottle), so shut the eff up. Besides, even if you somehow knew that someone really could be breastfeeding, do you really think that being mean is the way to change their mind?

2.   Refusing to acknowledge that sometimes breastfeeding is hard and sometimes it sucks.
I’m well convinced that with the right post-partum protocols (baby to breast within an hour of birth, for example), support, and information (and maternity leave) that breastfeeding could be a lot easier for a lot of people than it is. But the fact is that (a) most mothers aren’t in that ideal situation and (b) even in ideal cases sometimes milk comes in late, latches aren’t formed right, infections happen, medical conditions lower milk supply, etc. and those things can be miserable. Pretending this isn’t the case is rude to the women who’ve struggled really hard—both the ones who persevered through it and the ones who eventually prioritized other things.

3.   Quoting discredited studies.
Guess what? Breastfeeding doesn’t raise your baby’s IQ. That finding failed to control for parental IQ and when they did, the difference went away. I didn’t know that until recently either, but now that you know, have the integrity to drop it from the plenty-long list of advantages to breastfeeding.

4.   Confusing lactivism with promoting one-right-way-to-parent.
I will never forget reading an otherwise decent article critiquing all the subtle ways in which our culture promotes bottle feeding when suddenly the author was on a condescending tangent about the insufficiently committed mothers who had this selfish need to occasionally have a little time to themselves without their kids. I could just hear a thousand undecided pregnant women saying “Well, if that’s what breastfeeding is about, forget it.”

5.   Blaming individuals, not systems.
The major cause with low breastfeeding rates in the United States is not selfish parents. It’s a stew of bad hospital protocols, bad family leave policy, misleading formula marketing, badly crafted parental education, overworked and undertrained labor and delivery nurses, unsupportive workplaces, and on and on. If we all keep that in mind we might even be able to work together.

Part 2: … And 5 Things That Don’t

1.   Encouraging an uncertain or undecided mother to give it a try/keep trying.
This is different from berating someone who has already made a decision and it doesn’t count if it’s done in such a way as to fall under #2 or #4 above. But if someone truly isn’t sure, offering encouragement, suggestions, information, data, or contacts that might help them succeed in something this big is a service not a judgment. This extends to critiquing misinformation or “balanced” pro-con literature that parents have been given or offering to talk to an uncertain spouse.

2.   Trying to get the word out about how some common breastfeeding problems can be alleviated by different nursing patterns.
Talking about breastfeeding “management” tactics to address problems like lactose overload in no way blames mothers for the problems. It certainly sucks to learn afterward that there might have been something in your control that might have helped make breastfeeding work better, but we all know this isn’t inborn knowledge. You can’t withhold the information from those who want it so you don’t offend those who didn’t have it when they could have used it.

3.   Talking about the statistical risks of routine formula feeding.
This is the hot, wet heart of it all. Yes, there are plenty of perfectly healthy formula-fed kids. They are just statistically less common. Yes, fear of illness doesn’t have to trump every other consideration.

But neither of those things mean we should stop talking about the real and stark differences in health between the two options on a statistical level: Two to five times the rate of SIDS, twice the death rate from diarrhea, six to ten times the rate of necrotizing enterocolitis, higher rates of respiratory illness, leukemia, asthma . . . Post neonatal infant mortality rates in the United States 26.6 percent higher. We’re not actually just talking about fewer annoying ear infections here.

We need to talk about these numbers not in order to make anyone feel bad, but in order to organize for the systemic changes that would actually make breastfeeding a viable option for more people.

4. Opposing formula marketing in hospitals.
Formula is an important option to have on hand when breastfeeding doesn’t work for many reasons. In that way it’s a little like a drug, or at least a nutritional supplement. Hospitals don’t hand out anti-cholesterol meds to people with healthy hearts; they shouldn’t hand out formula as a matter of course either. It’s misleading and it implies that doctors think it is a medically equivalent option and it isn’t. (Same goes for opposing misleading formula ads.)

5. Disliking the term “breastfeeding Nazi.”
Aside from this being yet another case of the term Nazi being tossed around like the Nazis were merely cross-patches, not mass murderers, it implies that there is an organized movement to be horrible and judging to all parents who don’t toe the line, instead of a loosely-knit network of people and organizations trying to advocate for a public health measure, some small minority of which sometimes behave in mean or counterproductive ways. The same can be said of both sides of nearly any cause people get passionate about. It’s time we got back to having the real conversation.

Related Posts:

The great breastfeeding Strollerderby Smackdown: Boob Nazis vs Breastfeeding—Why Not? vs Damned If You Do, Doomed If You Don't
Breast is Best 2.0: Pumping in Public

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Ty Company Discontinues Sasha and Malia Dolls

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:01:00 GMT

Even Ty Warner has to answer to someone. The Ty Warner Company has decided to retire the Mahvelous Malia and Sweet Sasha beanie babies, due to objections from the White House. The First Lady had a hunch that those dolls’ names were no coincidence, despite the Ty Company’s assurance to the contrary.

One could argue that there’s nothing wrong with little girls seeing Sasha and Malia as role models—and if that means having doll versions of the First Daughters, why not? But Michelle Obama is making an important point about the crassness of using children to turn a profit. (Anyone see the latest Toddlers and Tiaras?)

Fear not, beanie baby-loving parents: Precious Paris and Bubbly Britney are still available, and they are more than happy to stand in as your children’s very expensive role models.

Photo: New York Times

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Miss Piggy Wants a Bailout For Christmas

Brett Singer — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:30:00 GMT

I'm going to backtrack now on something I said earlier. I was bemoaning (OK, fine, I was whining) that Disney, who now own the Muppets, were going to ruin what I feel are great characters, thereby destroying the possibility that future generations will derive pleasure from Kermit and Company.

Are you sitting down?

I may have been wrong.

Various Muppets appeared on The Today Show this morning to promote their new holiday special, 'A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa' (airing on NBC tonight at 8pm EST; Newsday gives it an A). (No, I don't mean to imply that Tom Cruise, who also was on this morning, is a Muppet. Although that would explain a lot.) The best part, in my opinion, was Miss Piggy, who as far as I know is still being played by the great Frank Oz.

It's not even that what she said was so hysterically funny. But the way that the hosts just sit and chat with her as if she were something other than felt never gets old to me.

Anyway, here are two clips from Miss Piggy's recent appearance, plus one from earlier this year where the Muppets took over the show and Miss Piggy tied up 'Law & Order' star Christopher Meloni with crime scene tape. Good times, good times.

Miss Piggy Wants a Bailout

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Miss Piggy on Today Show

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Older: Muppets Take Over Today Show

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Muppets Take Over the Today Show and Miss Piggy Ties Up Christopher Meloni

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Hopefully these frequent Muppet appearances will get my kids interested in the characters once they outgrow Sesame Street. I grew up loving The Muppet Show, and enjoyed the same shows on DVD with my first son. (The second one doesn't seem interested yet.) With such a multitude of viewing choices out there, reminding us about the Muppets can't be a bad thing.

So there you go! I may have been wrong about Disney and their treatment of the Muppet property. Happy holidays, everyone.

(NOTE: Thank you to the commenter below who points out that the embeds of these videos aren't working. Go to MSNBC.com to find them.)

Source: MSNBC

Image: NYTimes

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Taking the Midwifery Cause to . . . Postage Stamps

Miriam Axel-Lute — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:30:00 GMT

You've likely heard about the whole Stamps.com thing where you can order honest-to-god postage ("metered postage," the USPS hastens to add, not "real stamps." But they'll get your letter where it's going) with your own photos on it. Apparently they get touchy if you try to put anything "randy" or political (at least antiwar) on them though.

Happily for supporters of midwifery, however, the good folks at Stamps.com don't know just how political the choice of a birthing attendant can be, and they've got a lovely set of stamps available in partnership with the American College of Nurse Midwives that either say "Choose a Midwife" or give ACNM's website and have beautiful pictures of a pregnant belly and newborns (or ACNM's logo).

It's looks like ACNM has become a Stamps.com affiliate, which according to the site should be earning them "high commissions," which I'm glad to hear, since the cost for a sheet of their stamps comes out to well over twice the cost of the postage itself, even before shipping. If they sell, it sounds like a decent blend of fundraising and just getting the word out. I can hear the people in the mailroom now: "What was that on that envelope? . . . No, the stamp, not the crayon scribbles and apple juice spill."

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Disney trying to revive The Muppets

Brett Singer — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:30:00 GMT

I was going to title this post, "Disney doing everything they can to screw up the Muppets." But that was too long.

The New York Times reports on the fact that Disney is attempting to bring the Muppet "brand back from the dead," as "youth marketing expert" Samantha Skey puts it. ("Youth Marketing Expert" is code for "Spawn of Satan", but that's another topic.)

Eventually, odds are that the Disney Marketing Machine (another term that, loosely translated, means "Spawn of Satan") will succeed in cramming the classic characters down the gullets of children everywhere. This is the company that made Miley Ray Hannah Montana Stewart Cyrus Lipschitz (one of those names is fake – guess which!) one of the most successful stars of all time. They've even managed to convince kids that "High School Musical" is something other than awful. So the task of getting that audience to like something that is actually good shouldn't be too tough, right?

The thing is, despite our warm memories of all things Muppet, not every enterprise Kermit and Co. have been involved in has been a success, especially after Papa Henson passed away. "Muppets Tonight" (not mentioned in the Times article) was a flop, not because of bad marketing, but because the show wasn't very good. (I liked it a little bit, but mostly for nostalgia reasons.) And Disney has been trying to get the characters into the Disney machine for some time and so far it hasn't worked out.

Bottom line: since so many parents love them some Miss Piggy, once they see her, they'll want their kids to love her too. So if Disney can manage to put the Pig and her friends in places where both the parents and the kids can see them, they will probably succeed in getting a return on their investment. It doesn't take a marketing genius to figure that out.

Here's the thing about The Muppets. At their best, they are fully realized characters, despite the fact that they are not actually alive. Charles Grodin told a story once that went something like this: when he was filming "The Great Muppet Caper", he turned to Miss Piggy (played by Frank Oz) between takes. He told "her" that he wanted to try the upcoming scene a different way. After a long pause, Oz/Piggy replied (in character, while not being filmed), "Well, I don't really see it that way, but if you want to I guess we can try it." Why tell that story? Because that's what made the Muppets great. Not the green felt, or even Miss Piggy karate chopping anyone who had eyes for her beloved Kermie. It's the characters and the people who played them. To think that you can just pluck Fozzie Bear and the rest into another situation and assume that everyone will have the same positive feelings about them as before is kind of silly.

On a slightly different tack, does it bother you that Disney is taking these characters we grew up with and turning them into shills for generic Disney product?

Source/image: NYTimes

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Brand Names Play Increasing Role in Bullying

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:25:00 GMT

A poll by the British Association of Teachers and Lecturers found that the products kids want to own are largely determined by a desire to be accepted by their peers. And this is an understandable, given that almost half of teachers report that kids who can’t afford the “right” clothes are ostracized or bullied.

While bullying is unfortunately as old as school, brand bullying appears to be on the rise. What, you ask, could possibly have led to this increase? Well, here’s a possibility: more than 70 percent of teachers say that advertising affects young people more today than it did 10 years ago, and almost all teachers believe that ads directly target youth.

Photo: Shoe Market

The 6 Creepiest Marketing Campaigns Aimed at Children

Cole Gamble — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Our friends at Cracked have done it again, revealing the dark forces at work against our children. Among the evils preying upon our kids? Lucky Charms, Abercrombie and Fitch, Santa Claus and Rachel Leigh Cook.

So what terrible things are they telling our children?

Here are some highlights from the Cracked piece:

1 900 Santa Scam

This 900 number commercial asked kids to hold the phone up to the TV while the TV played touch tones that actually made the phone dial the number and let the phone bill crank into high gear.

Back to School Sleeping Pills

Rozerem, the sleep medication with Abraham Lincoln and a beaver in its ads, starting targeting its drug to kids. Or at least that’s the way it seemed. In 2006 they aired a commercial that stated, "Rozerem would like to remind you that it's back to school season" over images of school kids and classrooms and buses. No thanks, I’ll keep my kids off the drugs and stick to my tried and true method of getting them to sleep: booze. Always works for me.

Check out the whole article Here.

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Kid Food Is Mostly Crap, and It's a Little Shocking

Kelly Mills — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:02:00 GMT

I doubt most parents would assume a box of waffles with a picture of SpongeBob on the front was necessarily health food. But what if the box also had a label saying, "high in essential nutrients for growing kids"? Even if you don't consciously think about it, you might soften in your approach to the waffles. Well, I got news for you: That food is most likely junk.

See, researchers in Canada analyzed more than 360 products marketed to children. They did NOT include junk food, so there's nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide on this study. Instead they covered what is sometimes packaged as "fun food", products with cartoon characters and so on pimping the contents, such as prepackaged dinners. And guess what? Nearly 90 percent did not meet established nutritional standards, measured by percent of calories from fat, and the amount of sugar and/or sodium. Worse still in my book, 62 percent of the foods researchers identified as being of poor nutritional quality had claims of health on the packaging, like "low fat" or containing "essential nutrients".

So yes, the food industry is not above using shady marketing (such as pictures of kids playing sports on a box of sugar-salt crack) to fool parents about the health value of foods. And of course, there's the issue of directly marketing to kids, by putting appealing and familiar characters on the packaging. Just be forewarned that the fun, convenient food you buy at your kid's request is highly likely to be straight-up junk.

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Overseas Box Office May Save 'Compass' Sequels

Brett Singer — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:00:00 GMT

The domestic box office for 'The Golden Compass' was about $70 million - a big disappointment, especially to anyone who wanted to see the rest of the His Dark Materials Trilogy on the silver screen.

But hope is alive for fans of Philip Pullman's controversial series. Variety reports that 'Compass' is on its way to becoming the first film to make less than $100 million in North America, only to rake in $300 million abroad.

The film also won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, further increasing its profile.

So will the sequels get made? Producer Deborah Forte, referring to the next two books in the series, says yes: "I will make 'The Subtle Knife' and 'The Amber Spyglass'...I believe there are enough people who see what a viable and successful franchise we have."

Kevin Powers of FirstShowing.net believes that the fault was not in the marketing, as Forte suggests, but in the film itself, which he feels was a watered down version of the original text. The producer says it wasn't marketed strongly enough in the States as a "family film," but Powers thinks that by taking out the references to the church (according to many news reports, Pullman's three novels explicitly mention "God" and "the bible" in a not altogether positive manner), the filmmakers diluted the material too much and took out the heart of the book. For obvious reasons, New Line seemed to want to avoid controversy by doing so, and maybe that's what hurt them at the domestic box office. The 'Harry Potter' films are extremely faithful to the originals. Of course, Rowling's books are also infinitely more popular than Pullman's.

Is it possible that people knew about 'Compass' but just didn't want to see it? Every kid I know was very much aware that the film was out there. Thing 1 pointed out more than once that "polar bears wearing armor are cool." He saw the commercial on television, posters all over town, and ads for the video game in the comic books he reads. But he expressed no great desire to see it in theaters, or to read the novels. He has, however, seen every 'Potter' film so far and read 5 of the 7 books. That's not a comment on 'Dark Materials,' only on the notion that marketing somehow trumps content.

I think it must be hard for a producer to see one of her films that cost $180 million to make bring in less than $100 million in ticket sales in its home country, but that pain has to be dulled quite a bit by an extra $300 million overseas (even though New Line apparently made a bad business deal and won't see most of that money.) But saying that there's an audience out there for two more movies, as long as the marketing is handled differently, is a bit of a stretch.

Horton Hears a Cash Register

Jen Chaney — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:04:00 GMT

Oh, the places Hollywood will go to trade on the good name of dear 'ol Dr. Seuss.

First came the hideous movie version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which taught us that the Grinch was mean, not because he was a twisted freak who lived up in the mountains Unabomber-style, but because he was bullied at a young age for having a boy-beard.

Next came 2003's "The Cat in the Hat," a manic and borderline offensive adaptation that was totally out of synch with the gentle, subversive humor of the text that inspired it. (Even Seuss' widow, Audrey Geisel, told the Associated Press she hated Mike Myers' take on the sneaky feline.)

And now we have "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!," an animated version of the beloved tale about an elephant with top-notch hearing, coming to a cineplex near you this Friday. I missed a Washington, D.C. preview screening of "Horton" so I can't say whether it's good or bad, but the trailer -- featuring, yes, another over-the-top performance by former Grinch Jim Carrey -- is not exactly promising.

But even if it stinks like week-old green eggs and ham, it won't matter. "Horton" will still rise to the top of the box office because of all the marketing dollars invested in making sure every man-and-woman-with-child is aware of its existence. In addition to saturating TV with Who-ville commercials, Fox also has promoted the 'toon via a number of clever tie-ins.

Last weekend, Target stores, in partnership with Read Across America, invited customers nationwide to come to their stores for special readings of "Horton Hears a Who!"

That same weekend, the A&A Maryland Hearing Center offered free hearing tests for kids at a shopping mall in Gaithersburg, Md., giving complimentary movie passes to participants.

In a contest co-sponsored by USA Today, one American community will win a free screening of "Horton" for shouting the book's famous line, "We are here!" at the highest possible decibel level.

And, in the long-awaited marriage between Whos and breakfast food, IHOP is serving special "Horton"-themed dishes.

Now, it's hard to quibble with any marketing campaign that at least attempts to do some positive things (i.e. encouraging kids to read and hear better). But the inescapable nature of the "Horton" promotional campaign -- call it "the animated elephant in the room" -- leaves something of a bad taste, especially given the crap-tastic nature of previous Seussian cinema. Dr. Seuss wrote charming, elegant stories that appeal to children because of their infectious rhymes, but also touch on adult issues, like environmentalism ("The Lorax"), anti-Semistism ("The Sneetches"), the arms race ("The Butter Battle Book") and isolationism (yes, "Horton Hears a Who!"). I get that Audrey Geisel wants to keep her husband's name current and, heck, maybe make some extra bucks while she's at it. But amidst the hype -- not to mention, as Amy Lutz noted recently on this very blog, attempts by pro-lifers to co-opt Seuss's message -- I fear that the original intent of his work is slowly but surely going the way of the Lorax's truffula trees. And if Seuss gets too commercial, the Hollywood studios will start looking a lot like the Once-ler.

Sex, Drugs and Marketing

Adrienne Martini — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Most parents would never think of sending their kid out into the big, wide world without some hard information about how sex and drugs can be dangerous. (They'd also be well advised to include that both can be great fun -- but that's another post.) But these same parents might not think to educate Janey and Jimmy about another double-edged fact of life: marketing.

For a quick and dirty primer on how to start a conversation about how business try to convince you that buying a product is the same thing as buying happiness, Lisa Tiffin's piece is thoughtful and helpful. In it, she advises that parents not ban television outright but instead offer insights into how commercials work.

This mix of exposure and education works for infectious diseases. It should do the trick of vaccinating a kid's brain, too.

Photo credit: Aaronyx

Let This Woman Give You A (birth) Orgasm

Cole Gamble — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:00:00 GMT

One Tennessee midwife is touting her “orgasmic births” or, if you prefer, births with a happy ending. Fellow blogger Kelly has written about the birth orgasm phenomenon here. Now this midwife is selling the baby "O".

Everybody knows you’re not supposed to enjoy giving birth. Now you say orgasming and birth are synonymous? Hmmm. Next time my wife says I’m not being sensually attentive enough I’ll just get her pregnant. Could you hear the rimshot after that one? Here’s another: I once had a girlfriend who said that lots of foreplay gave her multiple births, but I’m pretty sure she faked most of them.

So, birth orgasms, yeah! No longer do you have to hide how powerfully sexy you feel as another human being is clawing it's way out of you. But hold on ladies, read the fine print. At the end of the article the midwife admits the term “orgasmic birth” is not so much a guarantee as a marketing ploy. Some "orgasmic" results might only be metaphorical. Selling products with the promise of unadulterated orgasming isn’t new. Worked for Herbal Essences shampoo and, I don’t know, tube socks? Really, though, read Kelly's original post. A woman suggests you help your sexual pleasure during birth along by making out with your husband. So when you're water breaks, you'd better break out the Binaca because you're in for eight to twelve hours of hot and heavy french kissing.

Photo: www.msnbc.com

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.

World's Worst Kid's Products Announced

Karen Murphy — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:28:00 GMT

Every year, Consumers International ("the global voice for consumers") announces the year's International Bad Product Awards, international brands guilty of abusing consumer rights. Any thoughts as to the winners this year? McDonald's? Mattel? Good guesses, all of them, but sorry. Wrong. This year's winner is Takeda Pharmaceuticals of Japan, and you'll never guess why they won.

Sleeping pills. For kids. Complete with "back-to-school" images in the marketing. Because who doesn't think of sleeping pills when they think about back-to-school? And this despite obvious health warnings against pediatric use of the medication. But why worry about health warnings when you've got stuff to sell?

Next up: Coca-Cola, for selling Dasani bottled water, aka "tap water." What, you thought Dasani was maybe, I dont know, spring water? Or somehow better than tap water? Something other than tap water? Nope.

And then: Kellog's. Because high-sugar high-sodium junk food should always be marketed to kids using cartoon characters.

Not to leave out: Mattel. Because you know they had to make this year's list, didn't you? For "stonewalling US congressional investigations and avoiding overall responsibility for the global recall of 21 million products." That sounds substantial, doesn't it?

And a big round of applause to this year's winners!

Fisher-Price Wants to Hire Your Kid

Karen Murphy — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 18:23:00 GMT

Dust off your kid's resume because Fisher-Price is hiring. Not just hiring either, but they're looking to add kids onto their board. Attractive skills include leadership qualities, human resources, project management, sales skills and creativity in design or concept, with a total of six kids being hired. Five-year-old Saige Bayne is the first hire, snapped up due to her drawing and design skills.

So what's going on here? In a ploy to corner the toy market and ~~attempt world domination~~ make lots and lots of money, Fisher-Price is recruiting kids to establish sort of an in-house focus group so as to better ~~exploit~~ market to their target audience. So yeah, while it would be a hell of a lot of fun to be the next "Big" and help design toys and play with them all day (oops, I'm talking about me here, but I'm sure it would be fun for kids too), I'm a little concerned about the exploitative nature of this proposition. Not that Fisher-Price is the first to employ this brilliant idea; focus groups have long been used to better hone product lines that in turn sell more products and therefore make the company more money. But in the excitement of being a part of new-toy development, do these kids realize they're being used?

You have to live in Australia to be eligible, though, so it cuts me and my kids right out of contention. Oh well, we'll have to find total world domination another way.

Body Image Advice Really Tween Marketing

Kelly Mills — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 13:54:00 GMT

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.

TV Marketers (Wisely) Turn to Mommy Bloggers

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Wed, 16 May 2007 16:37:00 GMT

Marketers have finally discovered the unique genius of appealing to the blogosphere. Mommy bloggers in particular. We're a virally communicatin' bunch. Plus, we're not afraid to show skin in support of a breastfeeding starlet or 10, or promote a TV show if it comes to that.

Yvonne Marie, author of Joy Unexpected and contributor to Babble's new blog (coming soon), was interviewed by the on-line Wall Street Journal recently about her involvement with promoting the TV show "New Adventures of Old Christine."

As media types get more savvy about the importance of word on the street and person-to-person marketing, blogging will become an increasingly important element in public outreach. It's only a matter of time until blogs become the go-to PR machine for all things fabulous and new and sparkly.

[Photo Credit: Wall Street Journal]

Stressed Out Moms Should Rub Babies Like Celebrities Do

Kelly Mills — Fri, 04 May 2007 15:30:00 GMT

Yes, it is hard being a new mom. So when you get frazzled, perhaps it's time to turn to celebrity moms for inspiration, and find out how they stay so fresh and put-together in spite of the obvious stresses of caring for a newborn. Alyson Scott, stylist of celebrities and founder of StyleChic says there's things we civilian moms can do to "look and feel well-rested".

Okay, wait. We are taking our cue from celebrities... So I'm guessing most rely on a live-in nanny, a full-time chef, a housecleaning service, tons of money, a personal trainer and a professional makeup artist to keep famous mom looking and feeling paparazzi-ready at all times. Is that what Alyson recommends we get?

Nope. Alyson says we ought to slather our babies with Vick's BabyRub. Let's all pause and let that one sink in. Because "the gentle Vicks BabyRub formula contains petrolatum and Aloe to leave your baby's skin feeling soft... Plus, Vicks has been a trusted name for more than 100 years, so you know that you are being a good mom when you combine this with a mother's loving touch."

Maybe I'm especially dense, but I wonder how rubbing stinky vaseline on my kid is going to make me feel less stressed out. Or how it would make me look like a celebrity. This is what we call: Cheap. Product. Whoring. And not even skillful whoring, to tell you the truth.

Alyson's other tips are: go for a hike with your baby, and let neighbors or friends help out. Alyson missed an opportunity here. Try, "If your muscles are sore after your hike, try rubbing Vick's BabyRub on your infant to make your own legs feel better. And why hand your baby off to friends? Let your Vick's BabyRub jar watch the kid for a couple hours while you get in some 'me' time. Leave the baby with a product you've trusted for over 100 years. That way you'll know you are a good mom for buying the stupid-ass, overpriced balm we are trying to sell you by getting a celebrity stylist shill to endorse it."

Apparently they believe new moms are not only stressed-out, but also idiots.

International Toy Fair 2007: Transformers Potato Head? More Than Meets The Eye!

thezeroboss — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:07:00 GMT

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

The Autobots and Decepticons have long been laddie favorites and this summer, Hasbro is launching a merchandising attack. In addition to the standard tie-in figurines and video and board game tie-ins, the company is also taking a page out of its Star Wars handbook: Not only will kids be able to entertain themselves with an Optimus Prime voice-changing helmet, but the younger ones, in the tradition of Darth Tater and Spudtroopers, can take apart and re-build...an "Optimash Prime" Mr. Potato Head. (Hurrah for punny names!)

Other film-based products include stuffed-doll Transformers (that also convert from vehicles to robots), several models of arm blasters, which morph from car mode to Nerf-blaster mode in just one pull of the toy, and one demonstrator's personal favorite: the Ultimate Bumblebee action figure, a 14-inch camaro/robot that not only makes battle sounds, but also plays Devo's "Whip It!" to complete the 80s nostalgia.

New Website Reports On Advertising And Marketing To Kids

Patti — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 03:13:00 GMT

In a panel discussion at the US Association of National Advertisers' Advertising Law & Business Affairs Conference last week, attorney John Feldman, a partner at Reed Smith, announced the launch of KidAdLaw.com, a website dedicated to keeping the public informed about the laws and practices that govern advertising and marketing to children around the world. With news and feature stories ranging from new junk-food regulations to APA policy statement releases, KidAdLaw is designed to provide an indepth and varied look at how marketing targets children, and at the people who are trying to change that.

Marketing to children was a key issue discussed at the conference, as advertisers have been heavily under fire for the way products are represented to children and parents and as obesity and other health issues have been pushed into the limelight.

Via Gamine Expedition

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TV Marketers (Wisely) Turn to Mommy Bloggers

Stressed Out Moms Should Rub Babies Like Celebrities Do

International Toy Fair 2007: Transformers Potato Head? More Than Meets The Eye!

New Website Reports On Advertising And Marketing To Kids