Interactive Games

Mattel’s Manipulative Monster High Marketing Machine: Unkind.

June 15, 2012 by Amy Jussel

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 tired of sexploitation, sassy, rude, mean behavioral cues sent to kids, blatant consumerism and vapid values.When Mattel tried to backpedal from the toxic messages in their webisodes … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Damaging Drek, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values Tagged With: anti-bullying, Bailey Shoemaker Richards, big media, brandwashed, brandwashing, Bratitude, Brattitude, Bratz, bullying, business ethics, Buyology, CCFC, childrens rights, Clawdeen, corporate accountability, corporate responsibility, crap detection 101, critical thinking, damaging toys, Daughters, Does Monster High Teach kindness?, Dr Jennifer Shewmaker, Emily-Anne Rigal, girls-self-worth, Goodwashing, halo effect, Hasbro, in-school marketing, kids media influence, Kind Campaign, Mattel, mean ghoul, mean girls, media mindfulness, media-literacy, Miss Representation, Monster High Dolls, Monster High's New Low, neuroscience of shopping, objectification, parenting girls, Peggy Orenstein, PigtailPals, preteen-health, preteen-self-esteem, Pro-social product placement, product propaganda, Pussycat Dolls, Sexed Up Toys, Sexualization, sexualized childhood, So Sexy So Soon, SPARK, spark change, spot the spin, targeting tweens, toxic cues to kids, tweens, unhealthy products, WalMart, worst toys

Sexism in Video Games: Tropes, Trolls and Terrific Upstanders

June 13, 2012 by Amy Jussel 4 Comments

Update YET AGAIN: Oct. 15, 2014 Reprising Anita Sarkeesian's important words, "The most radical thing you can do to support women online" given the cancellation of her Utah State University event slated for today due to "massacre shooting" terrorist threats impacting public safety at the school. Sheroes won't be silenced, and the upstanders and journalists helping explain with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Damaging Drek, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values, Viral & Buzz Media Tagged With: Anita Sarkeesian, anti-bullying, APA, Bailey Shoemaker Richards, benevolent sexism, bullying, Bystanders, Chell, female gamers, Feminist Frequency, GDC 2012, hate speech, Kickstarter, Lara Croft, media vitriol, misogyny, MMO, MMORPG, objectification, rape culture, Samus, school climate, SeX-Box Exposure to sexist video games, sexism, sexism in video game culture, sexism in video games, sexist attacks, sexualized violence, target women, The Bro Code, Tropes vs Women, Upstanders, video games, violence against women, violence and video games, women and media

Tilt World’s Nicole Lazzaro (Interview) Putting Emotion Into Game Play

April 30, 2012 by Amy Jussel 6 Comments

Sept. 2, 2016 Update Adding a few recent finds along these lines of 'putting emotion into game play' like "Shelter, Paws" and other empathy based critter care games to edge towards seeding compassion for all creatures great and small caring for wolf pups and badger babies, instead of fantasy Pokemon Go creations. Also, here's a recently funded Kickstarter called Junior … [Read more...]

Filed Under: EcoKids-Environment, Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, People Shaping Youth, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Shaping Youth Tagged With: Amy-Jussel, Arbor Day, climate change, deforestation, eco edu iphone apps, eco heroes, eco literacy, Environment-Kids, Environmental Education, Fiero, Flip the Frog, Games for Change, gamification, gaming for trees, green gaming, healthy-planet, iPhone apps kids, kids causes, Madagascar, Nature Rocks, NCLI, Nicole Lazzaro, Planet Green, plant trees, Playsourcing, seeding green, serious-games, social cause gaming, social change, STEM, Sustainability, Tilt World, TiltWorld, WeForest, XeoDesign, XeoPlay, youth eco advocacy

Oscar Is Worthy! See Chimpanzee, Support Jane Goodall’s Work

April 18, 2012 by Amy Jussel 5 Comments

April 18, 2012 No secret I’m a fan of all creatures great and small, wildly applauding every effort to impart nature’s magnificence to 21st century kids. Whether it’s the brand new launch of TiltWorld’s app (fun little Flip the frog on an eco-mission to make real world change in climate chaos) or Richard Louv’s Children and Nature Network (C&NN awarded $100K Disney … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Counter-marketing, EcoKids-Environment, Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, People Shaping Youth, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Shaping Youth Tagged With: Africa, Bruce Sallan, bushmeat trade, C&NN, children and nature network, Chimpanzee Movie, chimpanzees, climate change, Cool the earth, DadChat, deforestation, Disney EARTH, Disney Nature, documentary, EARTH, Earth Day, eco education, eco literacy, endangered species, Environment, Gombe, Green media, Green-Media-Youth, Green-Teens, Inspire Kids to Care, Jane Goodall, JGI, kids and nature, Last Child in the Woods, men in media, nature principle, Nature-Deficit-Disorder, NCLI, orphaned animals, Oscar the chimpanzee, reach and teach, Richard-Louv, Roots and Shoots, save the earth, stewards of the planet, Sustainability, Tilt World, Wyland Foundation

Kids, Media & Intimacy: What’s Love Got to Do With It?

February 14, 2012 by Amy Jussel 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 intimacy, and respect and consent. WAY past time for comprehensive sexed and critical thinking on consent to prevent misinformation and disinformation. Oh, and by the way, could we … [Read more...]