Chris Steller writes about the University of Minnesota’s marching band forming the TCF logo on a new promotional video. Not sure if this was included in the details of the contract signed when TCF put up dollars for the new stadium, but these were:

[TCF Bank Stadium] and/or Stadium Logo shall be prominently displayed in a fixed manner on the exterior of the Stadium . . . visible and readable from the two intersections abutting the Stadium site through which it is anticipated that the majority of cars passing the Stadium will move . . . [T]the University shall not be required to demolish any existing buildings in order to achieve such visibility.

[TCF Bank Stadium] shall appear on all University Home Game tickets . . . University shall not use Home Game or Event ticket backs to advertise or promote any Financial Services Company or its products or services. . . .

[TCF Bank Stadium] and/or Logo will appear on name badges used by service employees employed by University. . . .

[TCF Bank Stadium] and/or Logo will appear on all vehicles that are exclusively dedicated to maintenance at the Stadium.

Personally, I wouldn’t have allowed entrance into the stadium without the pass code: ”TCF. Open 7 Days.”

UPDATE [10/13]: Looks like my idea isn’t far from reality: Show Your Card Promotions at TCF Stadium.

This is the trailer from the 2006 film, Captive Audience: Advertising Invades the Classroom, including some words from Naomi Klein:

Originally published as Nag Factor Or Pester Power: Getting Parents To Buy What Kids Want by Jo-Ann Heslin in HealthNewsDigest.com. Reprinted with permission. Image courtesy Greencolander.

Pester power refers to children’s ability to nag parents to purchase food or other items they might not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be. Babies as young as 6 months old can form mental images of corporate logos and mascots. Brand loyalties begin as early as age 2. By the time children enter kindergarten most recognize the Golden Arches and know what they stand for.

Marketers intentionally plant the seeds of brand recognition in very young children in the hopes of cementing a lifetime relationship. As adults many of us have fond memories of favorite cookies, candy, and hamburger restaurants we visited as children. Companies market nostalgic candy brands to adults who long for childhood treats.

But the difference between our childhoods and those of children today is the ubiquitous presence of food advertising – TV, internet, social networking, cell phones, school events, and vending machines. Many companies employ “buzz marketing.” They get the coolest kids to wear their clothes or sip their drinks so other kids will elevate the product to trendy and cool.

Fast food and cereal companies have been cultivating brand recognition with children for decades. Cracker Jacks was one of the first companies to capitalize on children’s love of collecting things by hiding a toy at the bottom of each box. Restaurant chains often pack movie or cartoon characters in kid’s meals setting up parents for return visits to accumulate the entire collection.

Schools used to be a place where kids were safe from food ads, but no longer. Schools now sign exclusive contracts with beverage companies to make up for budget shortfalls. Sports and social events provide opportunities to promote products and corporate logos. Even educational materials may have corporate sponsors. Pizza Hut offers free pizza as a reward in a reading incentive program. Campbell’s Labels for Education provides resources for schools in exchange for soup labels collected by students.

(more…)

With only a handful of “fans” needed so I can secure a URL for PEM, Facebook showcases its behavioral marketing genius:

Ooh, I want to click that Get More Fans button!

If it’s hard for me to resist, can you imagine how a child’s underdeveloped brain reacts?

If you’re on Facebook, please consider joining — or asking a friend to join — Parents for Ethical Marketing. Don’t make me click that button.

Next month Diana: The People’s Princess exhibit will come to — where else – Downtown Disney Orlando.

Highlights include:

– Royal Doulton figurine of Diana in her wedding dress;
– Her magical royal wedding; and
– The historical significance of her role as Princess of Wales and the impact she had through that role on the fashion industry and charitable landscape.

Highlights will probably not include her battle with anorexia.

And if you haven’t yet, go to Dina Goldstein’s website to see her Fallen Princesses project. She explains:

The project was inspired by my observation of three-year-old girls, who were developing an interest in Disney’s Fairy tales. As a new mother I have been able to get a close up look at the phenomenon of young girls fascinated with Princesses and their desire to dress up like them. The Disney versions almost always have sad beginning, with an overbearing female villain, and the end is predictably a happy one. The Prince usually saves the day and makes the victimized young beauty into a Princess.

As a young girl, growing up abroad, I was not exposed to Fairy tales. These new discoveries lead to my fascination with the origins of Fairy tales. I explored the original brothers Grimm’s stories and found that they have very dark and sometimes gruesome aspects, many of which were changed by Disney. I began to imagine Disney’s perfect Princesses juxtaposed with real issues that were affecting women around me, such as illness, addiction and self-image issues.

Thanks to all who brought Fallen Princesses to my attention.

A letter-writing campaign to President Obama is being coordinated by CCFC to “direct the FTC and FCC to evaluate their current policies and regulations on marketing to children to determine whether or not they provide adequate protection for 21st century families.” There’s never been a better chance for our voices to be heard — please add your name. They’ll deliver the letters to the White House for Father’s Day. 

Nice link to Corporate Babysitter from NPR at Unsafe at any sip: Washington babies lose.

How many blogs have been neglected because of Twitter? Twitter has been a great way to get the word out since I have less time to blog, but I miss the depth and reflection that blogging allows. You can follow me @lisa_ray.

I would also like to snag a personalized Facebook URL for PEM, but we need 1,000 fans to do so. Methinks it’s a clever way to get smaller organizations to buy Facebook promotional ads; however, if you know of a Facebook user who would benefit from our news, please invite them to join.

From Daughters.com Making Her Own Movies:

There’s a delightful side effect, too. “When girls begin using media-making tools themselves, they get much better at being able to see the problems with popular media images,” says Mary Celeste Kearney, professor of feminist media studies at the University of Texas . . . .

Locally, TVbyGirls is offering some great summer camps for girls 12 to 18 which I personally recommend.

Finally, 50 Best Business Ethics Blogs includes yours truly.

Gee, I hate to kick Disney when its down, but they’re just asking for it when they start putting the licensed-character gang on my eggs:

Bonus Disney links:

Disney’s contributions toward the sexualization of girls are okay, up to a point: That’s Enough, Disney Girls looks at the inherent problems of being a young female Disney star.

And for even more Disney fun, review the 9 Most Racist Disney Characters (h/t Sociological Images).

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)