If x ∈ ♀ then |x| =  total weight 
∴ happiness = current weight - (current year - birth year)

The Search for Cool is a British television documentary produced in 2006. This clip shows how a buzz marketing company, Dubit, works with children as young as six to sell Nintendo products:

H/T Autoscopia

Asthma Mom looks at a summer “Fashion Camp” held at a Louisville mall in Teaching Young Girls How to Shop. For Self-Confidence.

The camp coordinator says that while the camp “has a fashion background . . . it also has to do with personal development and self-confidence.”

The personal development must come from these activities:

– lessons in modeling and posing;
– learning fashion terminology;
– putting together and accessorizing outfits;
– understanding the importance of thank-you notes (courtesy Hallmark); and
– standing up in front of the class and describing fashion choices.

The youngest camp attendees (ages 6 to 8) can join in on the fun with these sessions:

– Let’s Play Fashion Seek and Find! (courtesy J. Crew);
– Let’s Accessorize a Dress! and
– What Do I Need To Do to Keep My Skin Pretty?

I suppose an argument could be made for the merits of teaching girls to present themselves in an appropriate manner. That argument would work well in, say, the 1800s. But not today, when we know that the marketing-body-image-consumerism cycle is actually detrimental to girls:

. . . The “quick-fix” of a purchase actually robs [girls] of self-determination, self-awareness, and self-esteem. Encouraged to look outside of themselves for comfort, values and direction, girls become easy prey to addictive behaviors and unrealistic images . . . . In fact, the diet, tobacco and alcohol industries target girls, capitalizing on the body image, weight concerns, and beauty ideals that make them most vulnerable.

And let’s face it: this camp exists only to encourage girls to become shoppers at this neighborhood mall.

“As far as we know, this is the only program of its kind in the country,” says the camp coordinator.

Amen.

Read more: I Want, Therefore I Am: Global Girls in Consumer Culture

Sick and tired of the product placements seeping into everything your child watches on television?

So is the Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood, who got together other concerned organizations — children’s media watchdogs, public health advocates, consumer groups, and child advocacy groups, including Parents for Ethical Marketing — and wrote to the FCC asking the commission to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding product placement and integrated marketing on television.

“The diversity and breadth of this coalition reflects the growing concern that marketers are hijacking television content and foisting branded propaganda on an unsuspecting public,” said [CCFC Director] Dr. [Susan] Linn.  “The rise of embedded advertising deprives parents of the ability to protect their children from unwanted marketing influences, threatens public health, and undermines democracy.” – Press release

Some facts from the letter:

– 69 percent of parents are concerned that their children were exposed to too many ads in TV programming;

– TV product placement revenue grew 33.7 percent to $2.9 billion and product placement occurrences rose 13 percent in 2007, with 25,950 placements in the top ten shows;

– Cable programming is even more saturated, with 163,737 occurrences in the top ten shows;

– On American Idol alone, there were 4,151 product placements in the first 38 episodes this year, and branded content jumped 19 percent to a total of 545 minutes, or 14 minutes per episode. 

By adopting the NPRM, parents, caregivers, and advocates will have the opportunity to let the FCC know what they think of integrated marketing; the FCC is required to take those comments into account when they consider new regulations.

Of course, some people think that, while it’s okay to look into the problem, nothing should really be done about it. They would like to see the FCC issue a Notice of Inquiry, which would only require an investigation. Nothing else. Let’s see, who would want to continue turning television shows into infomercials? I guess that would be the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).

But not to worry. Remember, one of the FCC commissioners just stated publicly that the FCC should issue the NPRM.

And when the FCC adopts the NPRM and it becomes open for public comment, I’ll let you know.

See also: Timeline: FCC and Integrated Marketing

UPDATE: FCC Is Urged To Clamp Down On Product Placement at Marketing Daily

Photo courtesy AndrewEich

Joseph Jaffe of Jaffe Juice uses the “snow-angel” ad and Target’s response to blogger Amy Jussel as an example of a major social media mistake.

Watch Social Media Mistakes of Five Big Marketers. Target is featured beginning around 4:30.

Jaffe also acknowledges the colossal mistakes of Sprint, Sony, T-Mobile, and Starbucks.

From AdAge:

Nothing aggravates blogger Joseph Jaffe more than marketers that employ fakery, manipulation and heavy-handed lawyers in their social-media interactions with consumers. Author of the books “Life After the 30-Second Spot” and “Join the Conversation,” Jaffe is the head of the marketing consulting company Crayon. He also runs the blog JaffeJuice, which is No. 26 on Ad Age’s Power 150 ranking of the top media and marketing blogs. This video contains eight minutes of his remarks at the recent Association of National Advertisers’ Integrated Marketing Conference.

When I was a new mom, one well-meaning relative told me, after a look inside my daughter’s closet, “You know, it’s okay for kids to have more than one pair of shoes.”

But I could never understand why you’d need to have more. We were pretty happy with a couple pair: tennis shoes (winter) and sandals (summer).

So I guess I’m not the norm. Toddler footwear is “a hot market,” according to today’s The Boston Globe. 

Sneakers for infants and toddlers are the fastest growing segment in athletic footwear, with sales over the past three years soaring 34 percent to $1.35 billion in 2007. . . . Sales for adults grew just 3.5 percent over the same period.

Both New Balance and Reebok say that their new marketing campaigns for toddler sneakers are geared toward moms.

“For the most part, the mother is still making the buying decision, but she’s more influenced by her children than ever before,” said Neil Hernberg, head of Reebok’s kids division.

Gee, I wonder what would cause a mom to be influenced by her child when it comes to shoe purchases? Could it be that kids are somehow influenced by New Balance’s multimillion dollar sponsorship deal with Sesame Street? Or the ads on Nickelodeon during the Nick Jr. programming? Geared toward moms? Please.

The race to lace up toddlers makes sense [ed. note: debatable] because they need new shoes more often for their growing feet and parents are willing to spend more on children than on themselves, retail analysts say. Moreover, brand loyalty can begin at the earliest of ages.

Unethical marketing? Well, trying to impress kids with a brand when they are toddlers so they’ll want to buy later is pretty darn creepy, in a manchurian-candidate kind of way.

And one other tiny little issue: the best thing for growing toddler feet? Go barefoot whenever possible.

Parents beleaguered by the high cost of children’s footwear may be relieved to hear that, in the opinion of many orthopedists, the best thing for growing feet is not that pair of adorable, miniaturized glow-in-the-dark running shoes . . . but rather no shoes at all.

(Granted, it’s almost twenty-year-old research, but I challenge the shoe-product industry to come up with anything more recent that contradicts this.)

Photo courtesy lumkness

The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board will be consider a proposal to allow Lowe’s to put up eight-foot banner ads in some Minneapolis parks in exchange for ”goods and services” provided for park improvements (A New Low(e): Ads Proposed for Minneapolis Parks).

The proposal includes Harrison, Parade, Loring, Hiawatha, Matthews, and Longfellow parks.

Can’t kids have some space free from marketing?

Hiawatha, Matthews, and Longfellow parks are each connected to a public school — that’s why Lowe’s would love to have large banner ads there. It’s prime space with a captive audience that would otherwise not be available to them.

But corporate advertising has no place in public parks.

Lowe’s is also asking for indoor signage:

This area brought to you by

Lowe’s
Let’s Build Something Together

These products and more
are available at Lowe’s.
For store information
and locations, please visit
www.lowes.com.

I understand that a company’s donation deserves some recognition. But why an ad? Why not a simple This area brought to you by Lowe’s? Wouldn’t that give Lowe’s the same credit without turning a public space into a suburban shopping mall?

Although it looks like many of the Commissioners are not supportive, it wouldn’t hurt to send yours a quick note.

Photo courtesy smile4camera.

The American Lung Association is exposing how tobacco companies market to children. And they’d like our help.

Their campaign, Expose Big Tobacco, is collecting photographs of neighborhood tobacco advertisements to “highlight the urgent need [for Congress] to finally hold the tobacco companies accountable for how they make and advertise their deadly products.”

[T]obacco companies prey on teenagers and youth — calling them the “replacement generation” of smokers. And sadly — they have a lot of success: Each day more than 4,000 kids try their first cigarette and 1,100 kids become regular daily smokers.

Now is our chance to expose their bad acts. Your pictures will be used to show Congress how important it is that they finally regulate tobacco products - including how they’re marketed and sold in stores. Currently, tobacco products are one of the only consumer products not regulated by the federal government. That means the tobacco companies can spike nicotine levels to make cigarettes more addictive; claim their products are less harmful — even if they’re not; and add candy and other flavorings to try and hook kids. . . .

So, check out stores selling tobacco products and share the pictures you take of their advertisements with us (Hint: check out convenience stores and gas stations selling tobacco products near schools). The American Lung Association will choose the best photos and highlight them our website.

The best photos will also be posted on the Expose Big Tobacco Facebook page (where you can also see some good examples).

Thanks to PEM member Lisa Pogoff for the heads up on this campaign.

Image courtesy American Lung Association.