I’ve often written that I’ll quit criticizing the unequal gender standards portrayed in marketing directed at kids when, among other things, women receive equal pay for equal work. Last week, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a step in the right direction.

Talking about the first bill he signed as president, Obama says:

. . . And I sign this bill for my daughters, and all those who will come after us, because I want them to grow up in a nation that values their contributions, where there are no limits to their dreams and they have opportunities their mothers and grandmothers never could have imagined.

In the end, that’s why Lilly stayed the course. She knew it was too late for her — that this bill wouldn’t undo the years of injustice she faced or restore the earnings she was denied. But this grandmother from Alabama kept on fighting, because she was thinking about the next generation. It’s what we’ve always done in America — set our sights high for ourselves, but even higher for our children and our grandchildren.

If you can’t take time to watch his full speech (but I think you should), then at least take a look at these visuals illustrating the powerful change that an Obama presidency promises. (via @pfhyper)

Many women and girls still don’t understand that celebrity and model print images are not necessarily real. Here’s a way to drive the point home: Photoshop tools plastered alongside faked images. Adbusting at its finest. (via @schmelzenfreude)

Did mocking McDonald’s Mom-centered advertising strategies on air get Twin Cities AM1500 radio host Tommy Mischke fired? David Brauer interviews Mischke:

I had read a news account at cnn.com having to do with the McDonalds Corporation wooing American moms by taking them to their headquarters and having them examine the nutritional quality of their food.

It was part of an ad campaign whereby McDonald’s personnel would be filmed telling American moms such things as how high in potassium French fries were and how other items, once thought to be unhealthy, were in fact good for children.

Well, I had a field day on the air mocking this entire approach to marketing, and only later learned that McDonalds was in the midst of behind scenes negotiations aimed at sponsoring a KSTP/Minnesota Twins promotion for 2009.

Franchise holders were listening to that particular show and became enraged. Suddenly, this advertising agreement with KSTP was threatened. McDonald’s had never before advertised with us, and our demographic is not normally viewed as their target audience, but, as my boss said to me, I had “unintentionally stepped on a land mine.”

We at Parents for Ethical Marketing would name our first award — for going above and beyond the call of duty — after Mischke. If we had one. (via @dbrauer)

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