Parents? Stay Ahead of The Game, Literally.

(2007) Advergaming is shifting from online to mobile, so younger kids and parents need a heads-up to spot the spin. Here’s an updated piece with fresh new links from my last article about kids under eight “gobbling up” interactive marketing. This time we're talking more about tweens, but it's amazing to see how early the K-5 set starts toting cell phones: Is your … [Read more...]

American Idol Ad: KFC ‘Sneaky Snacker’ is Brandwashing

Normally I’d toss this American Idol-KFC "Buffalo Snacker" blurb in the ‘who cares’ hype hamper to keep from giving KFC more PR buzz, but frankly, this whole ‘hidden message’ ad trend has me tweaked. Aside from the toxicity of targeting kids with MORE KFC transfat-laden junk food on the season premiere of the über-popular reality show … [Read more...]

Advergaming Arcades Shift Toward Virtual Villages & Kid Vid

What do you get when you cross a top-rated TV show like American Idol with online advergaming? “Pop Tarts American Idols Live Tour,” a media+mind+body equation that adds up to a challenging counter-marketing focus for Shaping Youth. Preteens love "behind the scenes" info and being "in the know" which is why we use the same methods to deprogram corporate cues and … [Read more...]

Shaping Youth Slams Capri Sun With Counter-Marketing

Timing is everything! This week we’re counter-marketing Capri Sun Coastal Coolers as ‘juice pouches that aren’t juice’ but mostly high fructose corn syrup. (HFCS) We’ve been using Capri Sun label lingo as an example of misleading claims...Lo & behold: 48 hours ago, Center for Science in the Public Interest launched a lawsuit against Kraft for … [Read more...]

Obesity Risk Twice as High in Hispanic Children

Maria Nadel, our Spanish translation expert is putting the finishing touches on our 'mind & body' media literacy log as Shaping Youth's “Dare to Compare: A Gross Out Game for Good Nutrition” kicks off a new session with 5th graders this Friday. Evidently, not a moment too soon… A study published in the American Journal of Public Health finds that … [Read more...]