Goodwashing

Toys R Us Throws Mother Nature Under the Bus In Prankvertising

November 4, 2013 by Amy Jussel Leave a Comment

Nov. 8, 2013 Update! Colbert gives a ‘Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger in his Nov. 6 edition, Forbes adds a resource roundup of the backlash among moms, (though I'd add it's not a gender issue as dads are equally ticked) C&NN's Suz Lipman adds her voice/views, and Ad Land calls out “concern trolls,” thoughts?Nov. 4, 2013 “Don’t bite the hook,” is my mantra for using media … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Vapid Values, Viral & Buzz Media Tagged With: #MLW13, #WishinAccomplished, ad gimmicks, advertising ethics, affluenza, badvertising, behavioral cues, children and nature network, Children Nature, consumption, consumption junction, corporate accountability, CSR, eco warriors, Escape Pod, Goodwashing, Helping Kids make sense of marketing, industry ethics, Kids-Nature, materialism, media literacy week, media messaging, media-literacy, nature bashing Toys R Us, nature deficit, Prankvertising, Sharing Nature with Children, stewards of the planet, sustainable living, toxic cues to kids, toxic marketing, toy industry complicity, toys over nature, Toys R Us, Toys R Us goodwashing, undermining parents, Vapid Values, What’s Being Sold, Wishin Accomplished

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

SmartyCard’s Summer Challenge With Scholastic: Heads Up for Fall!

May 28, 2009 by Amy Jussel 18 Comments

May 28, 2009 I was just about to post an in-depth review and analysis of the merits and watch-worthy aspects of the new SmartyCard.com "learn and earn" kids' program for 3rd-6th graders, when I received this sidewinder about their brand new alliance with Scholastic’s Summer reading challenge. I know, I know, this news is supposed to be a GOOD thing from a "halo effect" mass … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Product Placement, Shaping Youth Tagged With: ad-creep, Advertising, anti-rewards, backdoor branding, Book Fairs, branding, brandwashing, Bratz, cause marketing, CCFC, childhood, Chris Carvalho, Club-Penguin, commercial free, commercialism, consumption, Dizzywood, education, elementary, Elf-Island, Gazillion, Goodwashing, Ignite Learning, itunes, Kids, kids-media, learn and earn, learning, LearnStar, Lego Universe, MMORPG, motivation, non-book products, nonprofit-cause-marketing, parenting, quizzes, Raising Digital Kids, rewards, Save the Children, Scholastic, Scholastic Summer challenge, schools, Shape Up Scholastic, SmartyCard, summer slide, teachers, TechMama, Trojan Horse, Virtual-Worlds, Webkinz