Branding & Consumerism

A Homeless American Girl Doll: Really, AG? REALLY?

September 25, 2009 by Amy Jussel 14 Comments

Sept. 25, 2009 Never quite thought homelessness would end up a ‘branding opportunity’ but alas, when Virgin Mobile lobbied Congress to declare November Youth Homeless Awareness month to devote time, attention and resources to the issue I thought it was pretty cool. I met a couple of people from Virgin Mobile’s Re-Generation campaign at the cause-marketing lunch table at the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image Tagged With: $95 doll, AG, All Things Girl, American Girl, Amy-Jussel, brandwashing, Carissa Phelps, cause marketing, children, CSR, dolls, downturn, economy, girls, Gwen, homeless, homeless doll, Lyn Mikel-Brown, Mattel, NAEH, Packaging-Boyhood, Packaging-Girlhood, ReGeneration, Sharon Lamb, shelters, Stand Up for Kids, stress, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Unite, youth, Youth homeless awareness, Youth Noise

FCC Chair Receives Our Coalition Letter on Product Placement

September 24, 2009 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

Sept. 24, 2009 Shaping Youth is part of this coalition (15pp pdf here) joining over 50 signatories on "FCC Docket 08-90." As a nonpartisan, non-censorship, nonprofit recall I support two key coalitions impacting children, the other being eco-literacy, NCLI. You can get a glimpse of my reasoning here, but I'll focus fully on "'why this is important" deconstructing the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Product Placement, Shaping Youth, Vapid Values Tagged With: ad regulations, ad-creep, American-Idol, big pharma, broadcasting, Buyology, CCFC, children, democracy, disclosure standards, DVR, embedded ads, ethics, fake news, FCC, FCC Coalition, FCC Docket 08-90, FCC-Product-Placement-Coalition, Integrated Marketing, intrusive ads, junk food ads, Kids, Martin Lindstrom, Media, Michael Rich, Nancy Marsden, NCLI, news team product placement, Nielsen reports, One Tree Hill, Product Placement, public health, regulatory measures, stealth ads, Tivo, TV Product Placement, Vapid Values, watchdogs

Should Kids’ Cartoons Sell Fruit & Veggies? Brandwashing Revisited

September 16, 2009 by Amy Jussel 9 Comments

Sept. 16, 2009 Erma Bombeck once said, “My children refuse to eat anything that hasn’t danced on TV.” Quick! Mind snap: Did you blink to California Raisins boogieing to “Heard it Through the Grapevine?” If so, you’ve been ‘brandwashed’ by that award-winning iconic campaign from FCB so long ago… Next week on Sept. 21, two familiar icons and two slogans will be voted into … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Nutrition & Wellness, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image Tagged With: Advertising Walk of Fame, American Greetings, Better for You, brain behavior, brandwashing, California raisins, coaxing kids, Disney, farmers markets, fresh approach, fresh produce, fruits and vegetables, health, healthy habits, Icons, Kids, kids-food-products, licensed cartoon characters, licensing, love your veggies, makeover, More Matters, Nickelodeon, PCFMA, persuasion, pester power, Pop-Culture, produce, Produce better health, Sara-Grimes, September fruits and veggies, snack attack, Strawberries, Strawberry-Shortcake, vegetables, veggies, wholesome snacks

Back to School Supplies: Which Retailers Make the Green Grade?

September 6, 2009 by Amy Jussel 5 Comments

Sept. 6, 2009 You’ve all seen that Staples ad with the prancing papa gleefully sending his offspring back to school, right? Well, now it’s time to see if Staples is one of the big box retailers that ‘made the grade’ in Forest Ethics’ annual 2009 green grades report card, evaluating the multi-billion dollar office supply sector. Not everyone has a ‘mobile app’ to make … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, EcoKids-Environment, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Shaping Youth Tagged With: "most wonderful time of the year", 2009, Amazon, Boreal, caribou habitat, climate change, corporate responsibility, CSR, Eco labeling, eco-certifications, eco-practices, Environment, ethics, EWG, Fedex Office, fiber, Forest Ethics, forest management, Forest Stewardship Council, FSC, green, Green Grades Report Card, greenwashing, logging, Office Depot, OfficeMax, paper, paper goods, paper practices, pocket guide, post-consumer recycled paper, recycling, reduction, retail, safe cosmetics, school supplies, seafood watch, SFI, Staples, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, sustainable forests, Target, Teens Turning Green

Shaping Youth is in the Philadelphia Inquirer Today

September 2, 2009 by Amy Jussel 6 Comments

Sept. 2, 2009 For a media shy writer wonk who likes to fly under the radar, you might say I’m a ‘glutton’ for punishment each time I agree to making a comment to the press. The Bebé Glotón toy story originated at Thingamababy about the Spanish breastfeeding doll with slurpy sounds and strap-on-bib; human not included. Since then, it's taken off into controversy land and … [Read more...]