I’m hoping to score some points with my in-laws after being quoted in Advocates Debate Using Advertising in Schools to Raise Funds in Budget Crisis on FOX.com.

Lisa Ray, founder of the Minnesota-based group Parents for Ethical Marketing, says the biggest problem with in-school advertising is that it undermines parents’ ability to protect their children from commercial messages.

I’m really more concerned about the creation of yet another space where kids can’t get away from consumerism than I am about “protecting” them from ads.

But School Media, a company that specializes in school advertising, says ads can serve the needs of the advertiser and the education of the students. The company is working with St. Francis school district and currently awaiting nine additional pending contracts.

“All of our advertisers are under the understanding that everything has to be nutrition, education or health and wellness based. Anything outside of those parameters won’t be allowed within the school,” company spokesman Paul Miller told FoxNews.com.

Certainly sounds good. Can’t wait to see the list of advertisers who qualify.

Does it bother anyone else that public tax dollars are promoting private companies in a public space? Or that we’re selling our kids’ attention to the highest bidder?

From this weekend’s AP story Schools seek extra cash through campus ads:

The marketing push is spawning a new industry of school advertising consultants, who line up advertisers for a slice of the revenue.

“We want to bring Fortune 500 clients into school districts,” said Mickey Freeman, president and chief executive of Education Funding Partners, a Denver startup, who charges a 15 percent commission.

Advertisers are eager for a new way to reach students, consultants said. “It’s all about timing,” said Greg Meyer, president of recently formed School Media, which is pitching the locker-wrapping concept to Minnesota districts. “Five years ago, this wouldn’t be an option.”

In other words, the timing is perfect to take full advantage of the lousy state of education funding in the U.S.

These entrepreneurs will argue that advertising in schools is a win-win proposition. Sure, the ad broker wins, and the advertiser wins, and the school may get some sorely needed extra revenue.

All by taking advantage of the children — or “impressions,” in marketing-speak — who have no choice but to be there.

Who wins? Any way you look at it, it’s the kids who lose.

Are these the values of education? And is this really the kind of economy we want to embrace?

As long as public schools continue to have financial problems, there will be marketers ready to take advantage of them. The San Diego school board recently voted against allowing advertisers into their schools while here in Minnesota, the St. Francis board voted to let the locker-wrapping begin.

This story isn’t going away. I was interviewed for an Associated Press story this week and for a news story on WCCO AM radio today. I understand why districts are tempted, but allowing advertising in schools is simply not the solution. Everything taking place within the walls of a school should benefit students. Advertising benefits only the advertiser and the company selling them the space.

A new study verifies that while very young children are adept at using the internet, many do not recognize ads while others are unable to distinguish them from website content. According to MediaPost,

. . . children — especially those under the age of six — were unaware of the concept of advertising, while older kids may know about ads but couldn’t always distinguish them. “Even when words such as ‘ad’ or ‘advertisement’ marked the ads, some of the children still clicked on them, thinking they were legitimate content,” states the report.

The report recommends:

– ads be more prominent and large enough for children to see in display ads and explicitly state when an ad appears at the start of a video;

– ads aimed at children avoid calls to action (like “Click Here!”) because they draw kids’ attention away from content without knowing they are clicking on an ad;

– that ads have consistent placement on the right side of a page to help kids distinguish between ads and content; and

– when kids click on ads, they are warned that they are leaving the site with options to continue or go back.

The study also made recommendations on how advertisers could make better use of their ad dollars on kids’ websites, which shall not be reported on this blog.

The report was issued by the Nielsen Norman Group.

We had an instructive back-to-school event at my daughters’ K-8 public school here in Minneapolis, where we visited classrooms, talked to teachers, dropped off supplies, signed up to volunteer, and turned in a ridiculous number of filled-out forms.

Our local public library, part of the Hennepin County Library system, participated by providing a table of materials, including information on library hours and programs, recommended readings for specific age groups, tips for parents to encourage reading at  home, and these:

1) packages of Disney tattoos, and

2) packs of Disney “painting” sheets.

Both are ads for a new DVD release of Disney’s Pinocchio. Not ads for books. Not ads for something that will be coming to the library.

And both are specifically designed to be appealing to children.

The materials weren’t displayed on the public library’s table for long — I removed them as soon as I got permission from the school staff. Later, I contacted the library and received a long and sincere apology (accepted). The librarian there told me that they often get mailings of materials like this from publishers. (Disney Publishing Worldwide includes Disney Global Book Group, Global Children’s Magazines, and Disney Family Fun Group.)

I spoke with another librarian from a different Hennepin County library and asked her why a publisher would even think that distributing advertising via a public library would be appropriate. She responded, “They’re marketers. They’ll try anything once.”

She told me that when she receives those mailings, they are immediately dumped into the recycling.

This made me wonder if the Hennepin County Library system had a policy addressing corporate advertising. Answer? No. When I explained the incident to their communications manager, she let me know that they do “employ the best practice of refraining from promoting this kind of corporate advertising” and “While we do not currently have a policy, this is a guideline that staff are encouraged to follow.”

I work in a public organization and I know there are zillions of rules around promoting private interests with public funds. So I’m surprised the libraries don’t have a more solid policy in place.

Perhaps they should.

Cross-posted at A Magical Year Without Disney.

There’s a great discussion at PhD in Parenting calling out a popular parenting blog’s choice of advertising support.

Seems Babble.com has ads from formula maker Similac — complete with phone numbers to call for lactation support — on their breastfeeding guide. From Similac and Babble team up to dupe breastfeeding moms:

If you were struggling with breastfeeding, but really wanted to continue, would you call an infant formula manufacturer for advice? I hope the answer in all cases is an emphatic “NO!”

But if you were an online media property that is trying to turn a profit, would you be willing to sell-out your breastfeeding readers, by feeding them a wolf in sheep’s clothing? Would you be willing to partner with Similac, an infant formula company, on your Breastfeeding Guide?

Blogger Annie says, “Moms should not, under any circumstances, be encouraged to call an infant formula company for advice on breastfeeding.”

Kind of like how you wouldn’t look to McDonald’s as a resource for obesity information.

Other comments, beginning with Kat’s (from follow-up post, More strange bedfellows: WebMD Breastfeeding Guide Sponsored by Gerber (Nestle)):

Don’t get me wrong, I fully believe formula is a great thing for when there is a medical need. But claiming to support breastfeeding while advertising formula and sabotaging breastfeeding with false info, that’s revolting.

Kind of like a company purporting to help empower girls against harmful media messages while continuing to create those messages?

And from Lara:

it is not only the existence of these ads in this particular section of Babble’s website that is bothersome, but where they are placed, because they are not on every page (breastfeeding problems and supplementing with formula), just the ones where mothers who are vulnerable and in need of REAL breastfeeding advice will click on for help.

Kind of like telling a nervous adolescent girl that what she wears to school on the first day could be detrimental to the rest of her life? And then trying to sell her clothes?

From Lisa:

Makes you wonder how a website that is supposed to be geared towards parenting is so popular. They clearly don’t care about their readers. It’s all about money to them. It really is very sad.

Like a company that supports teaching kids to read while simultaneously selling licensed-character that encourage kids to watch television?

Or a junk-food company that promises to live by responsible marketing guidelines and then returns to school under the guise of offering donations?

And from Good Golly Miss Holly!:

It’s so sad the lengths that companies will go just to make a dollar, or two. When will it all end?

Sadly, it doesn’t. Babble.com’s defense includes so many of the arguments we’ve heard before from companies: We take your concerns seriously (boilerplate); this is one of only many of our strategies (it’s hard to keep track and how do you expect us to get it right every time?); we’re backed by experts (everyone has a price); we rely on our advertisers (you don’t want us to go out of business now, do you?); and my favorite: we wouldn’t do this if our market didn’t respond/we think women are smart enough to make their own decisions (whether it’s right or not is neither here nor there — and we’re not afraid to play the feminist sympathizer card when it suits us).

What is ethical marketing?

• Ethical marketing targets only consumers who can perceive and understand the persuasive tactics in commercials.
• Ethical marketing promotes products that are not harmful to children.
• Ethical marketing supports strong families by respecting parental authority in the parent-child relationship.

Parents for Ethical Marketing encourages corporations to adopt responsible marketing standards and practices that sustain the health of children and families.

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