July 22, 2019 As a former ad agency creative director, when I saw a bunch of Muppets trash-talking the Juul brand for an e-cigs PSA pitch I quickly went into “what the bleep” mode wondering how the … [Read more...]
Will SF Ban on Juul E-Cigs Stop Youth Vaping? Ask Them.
July 20, 2019 by Leave a Comment
July 20, 2019 Health advocate colleagues are confused as to why I’m not wildly applauding the SF ban on e-cigs, given my staunch stance against Juul and other flavored "vaping gone viral" profiteers … [Read more...]
Fighting Fire with Fire: How Would YOU Counter-Market Vaping?
June 19, 2019 by 2 Comments
June 19, 2019 As an ad industry creative director I’ve spent years using applied science to flip messages in healthier directions by tapping into the same tactics that marketers use to hook their … [Read more...]
Juul’s Bait and Switch Demographics Blitz TV With Goodwashing
May 29, 2019 by Leave a Comment
May 27, 2019 Hey young people, gather round…You might want to tell your parents they’re being played by the current TV ad blitz of goodwashing by vaping giant Juul claiming to be all about smoking … [Read more...]
Jean Kilbourne Enters 2015 Women’s Hall of Fame (Pt 1)
October 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Oct. 2, 2015 Long before self-proclaimed experts flooded social media with newly minted personas and punditry, women like filmmaker Jean Kilbourne spent decades of devotion upending toxic media … [Read more...]
Coke and McDonalds Lose Super Bowl with Parents
February 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Aug. 17, 2016 Update Bravo to Britain, showcasing athletes sponsored by healthy food instead of junk! See? Sponsorship doesn't have to be the domain of the duplicitous duo of junk food … [Read more...]
Now Pouring: Soda Pledges, Politics & Public Health
October 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Nov. 7, 2014 Election Outcome: Historic passage and precedent of Berkeley vote on soda tax; synopsis article via SF Gate on why Berkeley passed a soda tax and SF didn't. Oct. 8, 2014 Update: NYTimes' … [Read more...]
Biggest Loser? Healthy Eating. Weight Loss Is Not Entertainment
February 26, 2014 by 4 Comments
May 3, 2016 Update Medical communities and studies on metabolic measures should skew headlines into bold "I told you so" moments given that many have wagged about this show doing 'more harm than good' … [Read more...]
Hawking Hydration Low: Gatorade Tells Kids To Avoid Water
January 10, 2014 by 2 Comments
Aug. 20, 2015 Update: Now Gatorade's G-Force is forcing their bottled neon into schools under the guise of 'hydration education?' Seriously? Paging media watchdogs! Crickets. Jan. 10, 2014 I’ve … [Read more...]
Fed Up With Food Marketing to Kids? Nosh On Food MythBusters Film
September 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Sept. 21, 2013 Tired of the $2 billion/year endless barrage of hard sell food advertising hawking toxic crud to children to turn them into life long consumers? You’re about to get some ammo in the … [Read more...]
Marketing Tactics Undermine Parent Authority: Moms Not Lovin It.org
July 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
July 8, 2013 Update: Join the #MomsNotLovinIt Twitter chat about McDonalds and other fast food giants specifically targeting kids of color, and the new study in Journal of American Medical Assn on … [Read more...]
ACEs Wild: Flip the Brain Script on Adverse Childhood Experiences
March 19, 2013 by 1 Comment
1-8-18 Update: Important new data on public health problems emerging with kids in this damaging era of immigration anxiety. I see this every week when I tutor at Americorps/Reading Partners and … [Read more...]
Digital Detox, Blog Hiatus, and Fresh New Focus for 2013
January 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Jan. 2013-Shaping Youth has taken a first ever, full month long blog hiatus until Feb. 1, 2013. You can follow our posts on Twitter in the interim while we unplug the blog to repower the system … [Read more...]
Media Messages and Binge Drinking Influence On Teens
December 31, 2012 by 1 Comment
Dec. 31, 2012 Prequel to New Year's Eve... Long gone are the days when I could host a “New Year's at Noon Bubble Wrap Stomp” and watch little kids gleefully squirt silly string at each other in … [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...]
Olympic Body Image: Talking Points To Get it Right, Fit vs Fiction
August 6, 2012 by 4 Comments
Aug. 9, 2016 Rio! This post still applies tenfold in terms of word watching and body image critiques of Olympic athletes! Media Smarts has added some parenting talking tips for boys/girls too! … [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...]
Boys, Body Image and Sexualization: An Equal Opportunity Destroyer
June 5, 2012 by 9 Comments
Aug. 8, 2016 Update More new research shows marketing is responsible for creating body image issues with boys, which I've written about here, and certainly here devoted to the impact of 'bigorexia' on … [Read more...]
My Mommy Taught Me To Surf: Meaningful Media for Mother’s Day
May 8, 2012 by 8 Comments
May 8, 2012 Happy Children's Book Week all! (May 7-13 2012) No secret I prefer media that has a social enterprise tie-in or a deeper message than the vapid values of commercialism circulating in … [Read more...]
Time for a Digital Cleanse! Join Us For Screen Free Week April 30-May 6
April 12, 2012 by 6 Comments
April 12, 2012 Ommm...want to join me in turning off all glowing electronic devices to celebrate CCFC's Screen Free Week of insight April 30-May 6, 2012? It's a great chance to unplug...and … [Read more...]
