Vapid Values – Page 2

Blizzard’s Snow Job: Security About As Tight As Parental Controls

November 14, 2012 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

Nov. 14, 2012 Call it karma, payback, or just ‘got caught,’ the class action lawsuit against Blizzard Entertainment (makers of mega-hits like Diablo, World of Warcraft, Starcraft etc) is really about gamers tired of being played.Anyone who thinks youth and gamers “don’t care” about privacy and security might want to watch closely as this media mess unfolds, because it’s an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Shaping Youth, Vapid Values Tagged With: Activision, Authenticator, Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard law suit, childrens online privacy protection act, commodification, compromised accounts, COPPA, Cybersecurity, data breach, data hacks, deceptive trade practices, digital privacy, Ethics-Gaming, FTC, gaming, gaming addiction, gaming violence, kids data privacy, Kids-gaming-secret-codes, Media management, MMORPG, multiplayer games, new proposed FTC rules, opt-out, parental controls, parental permissions, parenting, personal information, privacy-data-youth, security breaches, Terms of Use, U13, undermining parents, workarounds, World-of-Warcraft, WoW

Bratzillaz, Novi Stars, Monster High: Same Sexualized SnoreFest

July 12, 2012 by Amy Jussel

Update April 7, 2015 Toy Joy! New offerings upending the toy industry to send healthier cues to kids: Lottie Dolls, GoGoSportsGirls, and now this new Kickstarter, Ember World adventure dolls, highlighted in this post. July 12, 2012 It's ironic that with over 900 cable networks choice is sorely lacking, as copycat formulaic media producers churn out new Reality TV genres … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Damaging Drek, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values Tagged With: APA report early sexualization, Barbie, Be Bratz, big 6 media companies, Brattitude, Bratz, Bratzillaz, canted poses, Celebrity worship, coarse culture, cult of celebrity, Dr Jennifer Shewmaker, Etsy, girls self esteem, girls sports, girls-self-worth, Go Go Sports Girls, harm of early sexualization, illusion of choice, indie toys, Jodi Norgaard, lack of toy choice, Lego Friends, Little Bits, maker faire, Mattel, Mattel Monster High, MGA, MGA Entertainment, MGAE, Monster High, Monster High sexualization, Novi Stars, PigTail Pals, Pop-Culture, preteen-health, Reality TV, roominate, ScrapKins, sexist toys, sexualized dolls, Super Tool Lula, top 10 toy manufacturers, vamp tramp toys, who controls the media

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

Graduation, Prom, Pressure, Stress? Keeping Up With The Joneses

June 1, 2012 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

June 1, 2012 Personally, I don’t think 8th grade and ‘cocktail dress’ should be uttered in the same sentence, but alas, there are entire websites ratcheting up the ‘kids getting older younger’ (KGOY) effect of marketing mania turning ‘tweens’ into 8th grade glamorama Disney divas with little regard for kids’ socioemotional health and developmental milestones. As 8th grade … [Read more...]