Selling Insecurity For Profit, Telling Kids Creativity Doesn’t Count?

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 the blinding message of consumerism triumphing creativity overall. When corporations undermine our values and put a ‘not good enough’ angst-inducing spin on children’s creative … [Read more...]

Help SPARK a Name for the Sexualization Summit To Ignite Change!

June 21, 2010 As the summer solstice kicks off, the energy is heating up over the buzz about the SPARK! summit challenging the sexualization of girls and women in media, and advocates are already been asking the ‘who what where when’ questions (alas, the ‘why’ is self-evident, from BabyGaga to daily drek d'jour) SPARK! Ignites a flame of action bringing together teen girls … [Read more...]

Back to School Supplies: Which Retailers Make the Green Grade?

Sept. 6, 2009 You’ve all seen that Staples ad with the prancing papa gleefully sending his offspring back to school, right? Well, now it’s time to see if Staples is one of the big box retailers that ‘made the grade’ in Forest Ethics’ annual 2009 green grades report card, evaluating the multi-billion dollar office supply sector. Not everyone has a ‘mobile app’ to make … [Read more...]

Raising Girls Amidst Meat Marketing: Carls Jr., Burger King Raunch

Jan. 27, 2015 Update:  It's achingly sad that I can reprise my own prose about "meat marketing" women with gobsmacking sexualization and objectification commodifying bodies as edible objects to be consumed, but alas Carl's Jr. is using the same stale crass-en masse trash for outrage baiting buzz in 2015 as they did five years ago.Guess they're consistent in their sexist tripe, … [Read more...]

Motrin, Media Mamas and Twitter Tirades: Marcom Blunders Redux

“When will they ever learn? When will they eeeeeeeever learn?” With apologies to Pete Seeger this media mama is having a déjà  vu moment blinking back to the corporate missteps of Target underestimating the social media sphere and choosing not to acknowledge “alternative media’s” customer concerns. Same song, second verse, only … [Read more...]