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...]
CCFC: A Positive Pick, Even When Calling Out Negative TOADY Toys
December 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Stop Texting While Driving: Will People Learn To Steer Clear?
September 19, 2012 by 2 Comments
Feb. 4, 2015 Update! Tomorrow on Blog Talk Radio, impaired survivor of texting and driving Liz Marks shares her truth in a powerful show to get teens to LISTEN about putting down the phone. Lauren … [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...]
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...]
How to Drive STEM Careers By Making Math Relevant and Fun!
March 29, 2012 by 7 Comments
March 29, 2012 Good luck to our friends "The Shop Girls" the only all-girls teen team at the Shell Eco-Marathon in Houston this weekend, and congratulations on today's public radio interview, "Cars … [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...]
It’s Veteran’s Day: If I Have To Tell You One More Time…
November 11, 2011 by 8 Comments
Nov. 11, 2011 As schools let out for the Friday Veteran’s Day holiday, I double-dog dare you to ask each child why they get the day off and submit the answers here for a positive parenting … [Read more...]
Sesame Street Takes On Bullying in Shows, Talking Points
October 18, 2011 by 3 Comments
Oct. 18, 2011 “Look at those feet!” Big Bird is told. “They’re ridiculous!” --“They are?”As he tries to get accepted into the “Good Bird Club,” he shifts from “happy to be me” to hanging his feathered … [Read more...]
Deconstructing Spongebob, Pt2: A Preschool Parenting Lens
September 20, 2011 by 1 Comment
Sept. 20, 2011 In part one, the prelude to this post, I tried to frame the notion of critical thinking skills as a sphere to hold up to the light and rotate slowly instead of banging out opinions in … [Read more...]
Deconstructing Spongebob: Reasoning, Research, & Critical Thinking
September 19, 2011 by 6 Comments
Sept. 19, 2011 “So, Amy, whose side are you on with the pundits talking and the press reporting about the new University of Virginia Spongebob research?” Whaaaa? Sides? Really? That's cartoonish, … [Read more...]
Girl Caught: New Moon Girls Slams Sexualization of Kids
July 7, 2011 by 14 Comments
July 7, 2011 Good news! New Moon Girls has created a prototype ‘virtual girl caught sticker’ you can slap on some of the repeat brand offenders commodifying kids to call ‘em out social media style…In … [Read more...]
CCFC Puts Energy Into Cleaning Up School Commercialism
May 16, 2011 by 5 Comments
May 16, 2011 Continuing our ‘positive picks’ series on media and marketing that matters, a gigantic ‘Howard Beale’ style shout from the windows “w00t!” to champions of change at CCFC, Campaign for a … [Read more...]
Using Media With Mindfulness
April 1, 2011 by 31 Comments
Update Jan. 14, 2016 Fame focus...don't bite the hook! Adding this excellent post by Ryan Holiday of the NY Observer calling out the recent Rolling Stone ratings raunch along with a slough of … [Read more...]
Power of Play Pt3: Active Video Games In Schools?
February 15, 2011 by 8 Comments
Feb. 15, 2011 “What if…?” Those two words have ignited innovation for centuries, so what better way to harness the Power Of Play than pairing health science thought leaders and industry entrepreneurs … [Read more...]
AHA & Nintendo: Tag-Teaming Innovation To Get Kids Moving (Pt2)
February 3, 2011 by 5 Comments
Feb 3, 2011 When I was invited to attend the “Power of Active Play” summit hosted by the American Heart Association and Nintendo, my synapses were firing in Howard Rheingold mode, wondering if this … [Read more...]
Behind The Wheel Texting: What Works to Drive Behavioral Change?
January 21, 2011 by 10 Comments
Feb. 4, 2015 Update Please join our friends at Cyberwise.org for a BlogTalk convo with Lauren Galley of Real Talk, Real Teens, Real Issues on Feb. 5, 2015 as texting and driving survivor Liz Marks … [Read more...]
A Viral Awww…For Dog Lovers; Shepherding Media Literacy: NULO
December 23, 2010 by 2 Comments
Dec 23, 2010 I have ‘holiday head’ which means despite important breaking media news on net neutrality, the FCC, and strong outcomes of public opinion polls involving Do Not Track consumer demands, … [Read more...]
Selling Insecurity For Profit, Telling Kids Creativity Doesn’t Count?
October 26, 2010 by 8 Comments
October 26, 2010 I’ll recap Spark Summit takeaways soon, but with Halloween around the corner, I have a few timely tidbits that go beyond the need to Spark Change over sexualized costumes and look at … [Read more...]
KFC’s “Assvertising”–A Double Down of Unhealthy Cues
September 22, 2010 by 3 Comments
September 22, 2010 Would you like a sideorder of sexualization with that heart attack? If the excess sodium from KFC’s Double Down innuendo-laden sat fat monstrosity doesn’t raise your risk factor … [Read more...]
FTC Food Marketing to Kids Update: Are Watchdogs All Bark No Bite?
September 9, 2010 by 5 Comments
Sept. 9, 2010 Where are we now with the whole junk food marketing to kids/obesity prevention discussion? Feels like we’ve been TALKING about "candy bars for breakfast" and citing Pink Princess … [Read more...]
