Commercialism Corner

Commercialism Corner: Your one-stop shop for quick summaries and links to all the latest news about the commercialization of childhood.

A Source of Solace, Not Ad Revenue – This Miami Herald article, quoting CCFC's Susan Linn, criticizes a proposal in Miami to allow advertising in public parks.  The author concludes, “To accommodate a plethora of commercial imagery in county parks is to fill them with visual pollution. The premise of the commercial culture is that buying things will make us happier. But no purchase is enough to achieve happiness. Instead, an encounter with nature—without an assault by this culture of consumerism—offers life's best gift.” http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/28/1796085/a-source-of-solace-not-ad-revenue.html

Kids in Their Sights – Canada’s Financial Post details the global political struggle to limit junk food ads aimed at kids in an effort to curb childhood obesity.  While child health experts point out that the failure of ad industry self-regulation proves that “the fox does a really poor job of guarding the henhouse,” advertising execs claim that the parent has the purchasing power and is the “CEO of the household.”  Meanwhile, childhood obesity rates continue to soar, and a new study on global food advertising to children finds that 67% of food ads targeted at kids in 11 countries are for unhealthy food. http://www.financialpost.com/news/Kids+their+sights/3452015/story.html

Don't Touch That Disney Channel -- and Many Other Things, in Blogger Experiment – The St. Petersburg Times spotlight’s Lisa “The Corporate Babysitter” Ray’s family’s year without Disney. http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/dont-touch-that-disney-channel-mdash-and-many-other-things-in-blogger/1117944

Crest and Oral-B Try to Make Dental Care Cool – The two companies launch a marketing campaign aimed at kids as young as 8, which includes a phone app called “Yuck Mouth” to teach kids about healthy oral care…oh yes, and to sell them on Crest and Oral-B products. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/20/2971664/crest-and-oral-b-introduce-pro.html

Kids are Influencing $10.9 Billion in Videogame Purchases; Over 90% of Kids are Playing Games Online – Children influence half of all video game purchases—to the tune of $10.9 billion—according to the new M2 market research study. http://www.gamingbusinessreview.com/m2kidsandgamesreport.htm

Popular Demand: Teenage Texting and More – New stats reported in the New York Times show that the number of teens visiting social networks from their mobile phones increased 81% this year.  (It’s no wonder that marketers are increasingly targeting teens and pre-teens with cell phone advertising.)  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/08/23/business/media/23mostwanted.html

FCC Appeals Fox Indecency Ruling – FCC, with the support of the Justice Department, appeals Second Circuit’s Court of Appeals decision on its indecency (“fleeting expletives”) enforcement policy, claiming that the court’s decision would make creating a new enforcement policy a “seeming impossibility.”  http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/456402-FCC_Appeals_Fox_Indecency_Ruling.php

The Hub Adds New Pop Culture Series “Hubworld” to Network’s Original Programming Line Up – The new show “Hubworld” is described as “a pop culture magazine show that infuses what's happening in the life of everyday kids with what's happening on The Hub television network,” the new children’s network by Hasbro and Discovery.  The show will feature highlights of Hub shows and segments “keeping up with what’s going on in the world of entertainment, music, sports and much more.”  Might the “much more” category include new Hasbro toys and licensed merchandise by any chance? http://www.pr-inside.com/the-hub-adds-new-pop-culture-r2080991.htm

Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime – Studies show that being constantly hooked into technology deprives the brain of downtime needed to process and remember information, which is essential to learning.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/technology/25brain.html