It’s devil’s advocate day here, as I try to flush out my bias and take a centrist point of view on the cartoon character facelift conundrum, exploring ‘then and now’ from a sociological perspective, with a bit more analysis from yesterday's post on my own marketing background in terms of branding overhauls. After all, Pooh Bear got a makeover. So did Mickey. Popeye. Charlie … [Read more...]
Last week’s New York Times article on 21st century ‘facelifts’ for kiddie characters gave me the willies on a variety of fronts, despite the fact that I’ve personally ‘freshened’ many a brand in my time. From Peanuts to Barbie, I 'get' that mega-brands need to stay au courant... I’ve admittedly had a hard time tapping into specific analysis of what’s irking me most about … [Read more...]
“Is your daughter more influenced by media images than you'd like her to be?” Um…understatement of the year, here. 73% of dads polled on Dads & Daughters agree. I LOVE Dads & Daughters, for challenging “girl toxic” media culture and putting the importance of male voices into the mix when it comes to how this is all landing on kids. But … [Read more...]
Raised predominantly in Hawaii, packaging like Fiji water and Zrii always catches my eye, as do lofty health claims like, “a drink so nutritionally complete that it has no equal in all of history”...So I set out to find the scoop on the zen of Zrii, soon to be the next consumable hypefest elixir, and sure to appeal to uber-trendy teens who are being targeted big … [Read more...]
Update: 6-25: USA Today Interview with Susan Linn here. So, you think junior's getting a jump start with baby media, electronic pacifiers, and the cell phone as a rattle, eh? Think again. The new study of 13,000 children developing behavioral issues from cell chattin' mamas raises an eyebrow alone, but moreover, it's the ongoing screen time proffered from the get go that … [Read more...]
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