Buy, Buy, Baby. CBSNews is doing a four-part series called Gotta Have It: The Hard Sell to Kids all about womb to tomb marketing, with kids being targeted in a scope we’ve never seen before. In this video clip, investigative journalist and Buy, Buy, Baby author Susan Gregory Thomas talks about the $20 billion being spent on the 0-3 “baby genius” products … [Read more...]
“From books, to toys, to clothes to snacks. There's a multi-billion dollar, global marketing machine targeting YOUR children. Our special series, Gotta Have It: The Hard Sell To Kids, begins Monday on the CBS Evening News.” You can bet I’ll be tuning in for Shaping Youth’s purposes, though my guess is they’ll be talking about GIA (Girls … [Read more...]
Call it a marketing hook, tween baiting, or young teen branding brilliance, Zwinktopia, the online virtual world that just launched Monday has leveraged their growth substantially by familiarizing kids with their avatar site Zwinky, first. Kids have been creating customizable Zwinky identities to plop on their blogs, profiles, IM and chat sites representing themselves for … [Read more...]
On the Edutopia site, you'll find a piece by Evany Thomas called Techno Prisoners, a first-person flashback from the author harkening back to 7th grade. (which I just forwarded to my 6th grade middle schooler for context that this stuff 'twas ever thus') It resonated with me, because at that age I remember being a new kid in town, and a 'blonde haole girl' to boot in Hawaii, … [Read more...]
Keeping my finger on ‘whassup’ in youth culture can lead to ‘life’s most embarrassing moments’ in a keystroke. Case in point? I stay apprised with what’s circulating the net using a handy tool called Top Viral Videos to see what’s clicking through with 6 million viewers and such. Einstein, the amazing talking bird and sweet otters … [Read more...]
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