Marketing, Media and Childhood
Investigations at the intersection of marketing, media and childhood
Michelle Cove, who is the founder of MediaGirls, a media literacy program in Brookline, Massachusetts, sent along this photo and comment, as a follow up to my previous post about Old Navy advertising. "Sexualizing girls early isn’t always about … [Read more...]
Some parents across the pond decided they have had enough of the gender-stereotyped toy marketing that is being pushed on their kids by retailers. They got organized, and less than a year ago, Let Toys Be Toys burst onto the scene. They have had … [Read more...]
This week, a mish-mash of media readings. First of all, I'm grateful to my friend Melissa Wardy of PigtailPals for putting together this discussion for parents about the Miley Cyrus performance on MTV's music video awards show this weekend. What … [Read more...]
I spent last weekend at a conference full of energetic and committed people working to protect children from corporate marketing practices that harm children’s health and well-being for profit. It was the 8th international Consuming Kids Summit in … [Read more...]
It’s the TOADY. I do enjoy this annual contest, to select the worst toy of the year, as a counterpoint to the Toy of the Year award – the TOTY – which is sponsored by the toy industry. Sometimes the choices in both contests are strikingly … [Read more...]
I took a stroll through the toy aisles of a major retailer with my camera. The aisles with toys for girls are conveniently color coded with pink. The boys' aisles are blue, of course. This helps you find the correct and proper toy for your children. … [Read more...]
Is J. Crew a subversive company that questions the cultural paradigm? Or was the decision to publish a photo of a mother painting her small son’s toenails hot pink a deliberate business decision designed to generate controversy and therefore free … [Read more...]
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is taking on Your Baby Can Read. The company tells parents in infomercials that their baby can learn to read from watching the company's videos, which are similar to flashcards. This is deceptive marketing … [Read more...]
My sister and I used to love to dress up in my mother’s old prom dress, which we found deep in a closet in the attic. It was a pale pink, with lots of fluffy petticoats. The flouncy skirt thrilled me. It rose up and whirled with me as I spun … [Read more...]
Decades ago, little girls (my sister and I) were playing with Legos, and they weren’t even pink. We also enjoyed playing with trucks, and dressing up in mom’s old prom dress. My boys have found cars, trucks and construction toys under the Christmas … [Read more...]
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Marketing, Media and Childhood 