Mel: Right on & thanks. I may have to pull your comment out for a post.

But that’s besides the point, because it’s fair to ask, So what if people buy this stuff?

Sesame Street has always flabbergasted me. How much money could it possibly cost to produce the show such that Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) needs to sell . . . oh wait, as reported in a really good book on the subject, “The Real Toy Story,” PBS won’t say how much it earns from product merchandising. (In fairness, I read that in 1996 they sold $20 million of crap.) And I guess they spend a good chunk on international educational programs, whatever that means.

But that’s besides the point, too. Here is Maura Regan, Sesame Workshop’s vice president and general manager of global licensing, on the role of consumer products on Sesame Street’s educational philosophy: “Everything in the programming starts from an educational perspective, and the role of the consumer products division is to expand and enhance this experience. We work hard to infuse educational elements into products while keeping children entertained.”

So I think the problem is that 2-year-olds’ minds are being expanded and enhanced, subconsciously, to branding, which sets them up as 6-year-old minds enhanced by Mattel, which sets them up as 10-year-old minds enhanced by portable PlayStations, which sets them up as 15-year-old minds enhanced by Abercrombie, which sets them up as 18- to 21-year-old minds enhanced by Miller Lite, and then SUVs, and then this, and then that, until eventually you buy a $1,695 watch at Nieman Marcus and a $150 pen by Tumi, shown–not advertised–yesterday in some StarTribune advertising supplement called MARQ: “Dash off clever correspondence, finish your novel and breeze through the daily crossword with a trustworthy travel pen.” Whatever that means.

Maybe there’s a “so what?” to that too, and I’m eager to learn more about it.

The study results are to be expected…that’s why toy manufacturers advertise actually. Kids who don’t watch commercials ask for things they see in catalogs or at other children’s houses..

As the study explains…girls tend to be more verbal and more mature at almost every age which is why they both remember and request advertised toys more often ( they probably pay more attention to the screen too since they tend to bounce around less..)

It was interesting to me that brand recall is low for kids…which is one reason, from a marketing standpoint that it makes sense for manufacturers to license their brand onto everything they can from backpacks from batteries. More exposure to a brand equals better recall.

One question that has started to come up for me is what happens when “good for you ” brands license? We are big Playmobil fans and have a Playmobil children’s dish set. Every once in a while I pick it up and think…hmmm… I’m using a licensed product..I usually avoid licensed products…but, i like this toy…

How would I feel if the world was filled with Playmobil, Haba, Kathe Kruse, Melissa and Doug bandaids, backpacks and batteries…something to think about….

Keep up the great work on this site…I love it!