Art inspired by marketers who unfairly target children

A special treat today. Works of art, one a poem and one a mixed-media drawing/collage, that draw inspiration from a sense that children are unfairly targeted by marketers in our society. This is a work by Massachusetts mixed-media artist Edward … [Read more...]

Clydesdales at the Superbowl: Does Budweiser market its beer directly to kids?

Did you see the Budweiser ad during the SuperBowl that featured a heartwarming story about a horse who remembered the many who helped to raise and train it? It was a touching story. See if you can recognize the persuasive technique, via the Media … [Read more...]

A reading list from the Twitterverse

Some of the best items I've found around the internet this week. From CNN, Why I'm quitting Facebook: "Today, I am surrendering my Facebook account, because my participation on the site is simply too inconsistent with the values I espouse in my … [Read more...]

Zero tolerance: Punishing children for being children

Just after the 9/11 attack, a friend of mine watched a lot of television coverage. Then she noticed her 3-year-old child building Lego towers and flying little airplanes into them. Kids process their world through play. Also, they mimic what they … [Read more...]

One Billion Rising to demand an end to violence against women

(Warning: The pictures in this post are disturbing, and I would say that they should not be viewed by children, except that, the problem is children are seeing this kind of thing. You should know.) This international event is happening tomorrow. … [Read more...]

Save the world with video games?

Ever since PD started learning to program, he's been planning his video game company. This weekend, I told PD I wanted to watch a talk about video games with him, but he was reluctant, saying "It's just going to say video games are terrible." And I … [Read more...]

M-rated video games cross-promoted with children’s building toys

If Halo is rated M for mature game players only, then why the cross-promotion with Megabloks, intended for ages "8 and up"? Please watch this promotional video (or see screenshots below). Please note that the video includes the Xbox logo. How … [Read more...]

Around the web looking at marketing, news, movies, screen-time

The failure of media on climate change coverage. #medialiteracy Children and teens who spend time watching television, playing video games or using the computer right before bedtime are likely to take longer to fall asleep than those who watch … [Read more...]

On the impossibility of protecting children from media violence

When the kids were younger and watched football and baseball on television, there was a time when they were watching a game and a promo for one of the networks’ other shows came on during the commercial break. My two little boys witnessed, during the … [Read more...]

Should movies with smoking be rated R?

This is the second of a two-part series on smoking, media and youth. Part I here. So, the good news is, teen smoking is down. A government report  in November 2012 found that cigarette smoking among teenagers had declined significantly between … [Read more...]