Feb 2, 2013 It's Ground Hog Day and as reliable as Punxsutawney Phil, parents and pundits await to see what shadows will be cast on kids from the Super Bowl media hype blaring at surround sound … [Read more...]
CCFC: A Positive Pick, Even When Calling Out Negative TOADY Toys
December 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Dec. 4, 2012 No question I continue to land hard on watchdogs that aren’t woofin’ when it comes to media and marketing’s impact on kids, but nobody does it better than Campaign for a Commercial Free … [Read more...]
Year Round Media That Matters: Positive Picks for Kids
November 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Nov. 26, 2012 With all the coinage and consumption swirling around Black Friday and Cyber Monday for people hunting “deals” I think it’s fitting to honor the organizations that deliver positive media … [Read more...]
Toward The Stars: New Online Marketplace of Goods for Girls to Soar
November 19, 2012 by 5 Comments
Nov. 20, 2012 “To the moon!” was once an iconic working class phrase that 50s TV star Jackie Gleason made famous in mock-threat to his sitcom wife Alice in The Honeymooners. He'd shake his fist, “why, … [Read more...]
Toy Joy or Consumption Junction? Critical Thinking for Holiday Fun
November 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Dec. 7, 2016 Update Why not turn holiday gifting into a media literacy opportunity? Tomorrow I'll be signing up once again for Samaritan House sorting and stocking for kids less fortunate and I … [Read more...]
Blizzard’s Snow Job: Security About As Tight As Parental Controls
November 14, 2012 by 2 Comments
Nov. 14, 2012 Call it karma, payback, or just ‘got caught,’ the class action lawsuit against Blizzard Entertainment (makers of mega-hits like Diablo, World of Warcraft, Starcraft etc) is really about … [Read more...]
Fast Forward Health Film Fest Oct 30, Celebrate Food Day 2012
October 24, 2012 by 1 Comment
Oct 24, 2012 Food Day 2012! “I don’t need any finger-wagging salad munchers scolding me about junk food” ---no worries, not happening. But if you'd like to be more informed about the reason for … [Read more...]
Wanted: Female Creative Directors To Change the Media Landscape
September 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Update Oct. 30, 2014 This coming week Nov. 3 & 4, 2014 Kat Gordon's highly successful 3PercentConference circles back to its origins in San Francisco after gaining momentum across the country, … [Read more...]
Bratzillaz, Novi Stars, Monster High: Same Sexualized SnoreFest
July 12, 2012 by
Update April 7, 2015 Toy Joy! New offerings upending the toy industry to send healthier cues to kids: Lottie Dolls, GoGoSportsGirls, and now this new Kickstarter, Ember World adventure dolls, … [Read more...]
Julia Bluhm’s Plea To Curb PhotoShop Sparks Change at Seventeen Mag
July 8, 2012 by 5 Comments
July 8, 2012 No secret the 'world according to teen magazines' is abysmal for girls, and we've seen mega-stats, studies and fact sheets about the impact on tweens and teens, (KFF pdf here) but as the … [Read more...]
Mattel’s Manipulative Monster High Marketing Machine: Unkind.
June 15, 2012 by
June 15, 2012 Last year when I wrote about Mattel’s vampy campy Monster High dolls I purposely didn’t even name their brand, hoping it would quietly fizzle and bury itself in the outcry of parents … [Read more...]
Graduation, Prom, Pressure, Stress? Keeping Up With The Joneses
June 1, 2012 by 2 Comments
June 1, 2012 Personally, I don’t think 8th grade and ‘cocktail dress’ should be uttered in the same sentence, but alas, there are entire websites ratcheting up the ‘kids getting older younger’ (KGOY) … [Read more...]
Visa Spending Survey Invalidated: Stats Are Bogus, Yet No Retraction?
May 30, 2012 by 1 Comment
May 30, 2012 Before we ramp up with the next surge of ‘graduation spending’ stats or infographics citing what ‘media’ deem to be ‘credible sources’ without diving deeper into fact checking, I’d like … [Read more...]
Prom Spending Surges? Media Panics, Hype & Critical Thinking
May 19, 2012 by 7 Comments
May 15, 2015 Update! Great then/now retrospective in the New York Times that spans proms over 60 years, all the way up to current "promposal" shenanigans, spending surges and social media selfies! … [Read more...]
Public Health: DV Grammys, Too Short Of A Memory, Sexualization
February 29, 2012 by 16 Comments
Update Feb. 12, 2016 With the 2016 Grammys coming up this weekend, I wanted to add two posts by the author of The Achilles Effect and Boys, Sex & Media as a ponderable question about what we're … [Read more...]
Kids, Media & Intimacy: What’s Love Got to Do With It?
February 14, 2012 by 5 Comments
Update Feb. 13, 2018 Related research and an excellent NYT read on the need for "porn literacy" given that teens exposure to online porn sites is distorting their lens of peer social norming, healthy … [Read more...]
Miss Representation Sparks Change As a Film, As a Movement
February 4, 2012 by 4 Comments
Ready for Feb 3, 2013? Miss Rep will be at it again. Here is the new list of 2013 Twitter handles for advertisers, just use the #NotBuyingIt hashtag on Twitter to make a social media statement … [Read more...]
The Supermodels, Then and Now + A Chat With Janet Lansbury
February 1, 2012 by 3 Comments
Feb. 1, 2012 “25% of young women 18-34 would rather win America’s Next Top Model than the Nobel Peace Prize..." ..."And 23% would rather lose their ability to read than their figures” opens Lisa … [Read more...]
Lego Friends: Please Build on Possibility, Brain Plasticity
January 1, 2012 by 37 Comments
April 28, 2016 "37 year old son of Lego billionaire takes the helm as Vice Chairman" Congrats, Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, now that you've inherited the Lego legacy, and named your daughter and five … [Read more...]
Using Media to Uplift and Inspire: When to Tune In, Not Out.
December 20, 2011 by 2 Comments
Dec. 20, 2011 True confessions, it’s been a heckuva challenging year, and it got me thinking about what different people do to bootstrap themselves out of adversity in its many forms whether it’s … [Read more...]
