toy industry complicity

Positive Picks! Progress in Upending Gender Stereotypes

April 3, 2015 by Amy Jussel Leave a Comment

May 29, 2015 Update Check out the all new Kickstarter from Gecko Clothing featuring "funky, ethical, organic, unisex" clothes crowdsourcing both the design and the funding! There's a strong sense of urgency with this adorable selection of togs, as this startup has an "all or nothing" timer on their crowdfunding so if you want it to see the light of day in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: Brave Girls Alliance, building brain plasticity, Elizabeth Sweet, Free to be kids, gender equality, gender portrayal kids, hyper gendered toys, Lego Elves stereotypes, Lego Friends, Let books be books, let kids be kids, Let Toys Be Toys, Madeline Messer, media-literacy, Monica Lowry, pink and blue, positive picks, Toca Boca, Toolula, Tootsa, Tootsa MacGinty, toy industry complicity, toy industry stereotypes, unisex kids clothes, Unisex toys, Upending gender stereotypes

Hollywood Climate Change: Warming to Sheroes or Still in Denial?

January 7, 2014 by Amy Jussel Leave a Comment

Jan. 7, 2014 2014 is the year of Redefining Girly. Not just Redefining Girly, the new book on gender stereotypes and sexualization of kids by parent actionist Melissa Wardy, but redefining girly in the creation of lead characters who aren’t all about form over function.Can you feel the climate change? The energy surge? The sardonic wit of media critics pointing out the tired … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Shaping Youth Tagged With: Amy-Jussel, Bechdel Test, Brave Girls Alliance, Brave Girls Want, female superheroes, Female-Action-Heroes, Frozen and Catching Fire teen heroines, Geena Davis Institute, Geena-Davis, gender equity, gender inequity, Gender Portrayal, Keep Merida Brave, media matters, media-literacy, Miss Representation, money talks Hollywood, not buying it, redefining girly, See Jane, sexism, Sexualization, Shaping Youth, sheroes, Sheroes Sell, stereotypes in media, stereotypes-girls, strong female characters, strong female roles make more money, Top 50 movies by Bechdel breakdown, toy industry complicity, Vapid Values, Vocativ, Women in Film, Women in Hollywood, Women in Media, Wonder Woman film, year of women at box office

Disney’s Frozen: Critical Thinking Skills to Ice Out Personal Bias

January 1, 2014 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

Dec. 29, 2013 “It was soooooooo booooooooo-tiful with snowfwakes evweeewhere wiff fweeedeee (3D) gwasses!” the five-year old’s eyes lit up and widened almost as large as the animated sheroes in the film (ok, admittedly not as huge as “her eyeball is larger than her wrist” dimorphism that body image critics are charging Disney with perpetuating, but BIG nonetheless)…Her … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Media Literacy Tagged With: 3D animation, body image in Frozen, Brave Girls Want, Critical-thinking-skills, Curse of the Good Girl, Disney-Princesses, Disney’s first female director, Disney’s Frozen, dual sided debate, eliminating personal bias, Elsa and Anna, Frozen, Frozen and Catching Fire teen heroines, Gender Portrayal, girls empowerment, girls leadership, Let it Go, media-literacy, Merida makeover, mind the bias, movie-merchandising, Norway tourist board, Project Implicit, Sexualization, sheroes, So Sexy So Soon, spot your blind spots, subconcious bias, talking points, toy industry complicity

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

The Tooth Fairy Is Not A Brand. Parents…Arise!

July 22, 2013 by Amy Jussel 9 Comments

Aug. 6, 2013 Update! Honored to be accurately quoted in this pithy parenting prose by Heidi Stevens in The Chicago Tribune's thrilled to see all the parenting pushback on Twitter that CCFC put together in this 'Storify' synopsis! (New York Times also covered CCFC's efforts here) Keep at it, families...save our traditions and narratives from marketing greed!July 22, 2013 It’s … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Branding & Consumerism Tagged With: ADA, Amy-Jussel, baby teeth, backdoor branding, brandwashing, CCFC, child exploitation, childhood rites of passage, children’s icons, Commercialization of Childhood, Consumerism, corporate accountability, corporate profiteering, dentists, direct marketing to kids, Disney Dia de los Muertos, Disney-Princesses, Equestria Girls, family narratives, Gender Portrayal, Hasbro, imagination, imaginative play, Mattel, media siege, media-literacy, My Little Pony rebranding, Official Real Tooth Fairy Dentist, parenting peeves, parents under siege, Pinkification, Pop culture impact on kids, princess culture, Save the Tooth Fairy, sexploitation, sexualization of children, Stop Corporate Abuse, storytelling, The Real Tooth Fairies, The Tooth Fairy, toy industry complicity, trademarking a holiday, trust breach, unethical marketing, Vapid Values