Vapid Values

Ghosting and the Machines: Media Devices, Normalizing Behaviors (Part 1)

March 25, 2019 by Amy Jussel 1 Comment

March 25, 2019 Mute. Block. Unfriend. Delete. Ghost. It’s fast, effective and final, but these one-click solutions that treat humans like devices are creating behaviors that are almost algorithmic in their ability to place value, assign patterns, and assess an ‘effort to yield’ ratio that determines whether someone rates a diss and dismiss based on level of contact and whether … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Vapid Values Tagged With: #GiftOfFailure, AI and ghosting, behavioral psych, bots, breadcrumbing, coping skills, dating sites, Ghost Bots, ghosting, media portrayal of ghosting, orbiting, submarining, teaching resilience, Vapid Values, workplace ghosting

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

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

Brave Girls Want: Change. That’s Not Merida, Disney. Be Brave and Fix It

May 23, 2013 by Amy Jussel 4 Comments

June 11, 2013 Update: Brave Girls Want.com is now live! Use the hashtag #BraveGirlsWant on Twitter and “like” the new Facebook site to add your voice and views on the impact of media and marketing messaging so we can all help corporations envision (and create!) a healthier worldview for girls. From the new Brave Girls Want.com site positioning statement: “We are here to ask … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: A Mighty Girl, Amy-Jussel, beauty ideal, brain plasticity, Brave, Brave Girls Want, Brenda Chapman, child development, childrens health, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Disney-Princesses, Dr Jennifer Shewmaker, gender stereotypes, Girls CEO Connection, girls self esteem, Keep Merida Brave, merchandising, Merida petition, Packaging-Girlhood, parenting girls, Princess Free Zone, princesses, redefining girly, sexualized dolls, Shaping Youth, That's Not Merida, Toward the Stars, toy industry, Vapid Values