Commercialism Corner

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

'Educational' DVDs Don't Expand Baby Vocabulary: Study – Yet another study finds that toddlers exposed to DVDs marketed as “educational” show no greater improvement in their vocabulary than young children not exposed to such content. The researchers found that babies learn best doing everyday activities, without exposure to videos. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326362/Talking-toddler-helps-make-like-Einstein.html

San Francisco Bans Happy Meals – Standing up for children's health and against fast food giants, San Francisco rules that restaurants may no longer target children with toy giveaways for meals high in sugar, calories and fat. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-happy-meals-20101103,0,5438230.story

Supreme Court To Hear Violent Video Game Case - The Supreme Court will rule on California's effort to prohibit the sale or rental of video games that give players the option of "killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being" to children and teens under 18. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130953921

Kids' Use of Electronic Media at Night Linked to Problems – A preliminary study suggests that over half of children who use electronic media at night may suffer from learning or mood problems during the day. http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/teen-ya/2010-11-01-sleeptexting01_st_N.htm

The Hub and Toy Company Enter Partnership Deal for “Hubworld” – The new Hasbro/Discovery children’s network “The Hub” and WowWee, a toy entertainment company, enter into a sponsorship deal for the launch of The Hub’s weekly so-called magazine series, Hubworld, for co-branded content. http://www.cynopsis.com/editions/kids/110210/

Redken Video Game Beckons Girls to Hair Salons - Redken, a hairstyling products brand that is owned by L’Oréal and sold only in salons, creates a new hairstyling Wii video game for girls, with integrated product placement for the brand. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/business/media/02adco.html

Moshi Monsters Bolsters Merch Program – Licensing partners eager to target children with marketing for their products are flocking to Moshi Monsters, a popular children’s virtual world with more than 30 million members worldwide. http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/news/20101103/moshimonsters.html

Is Your Child Watching Too Much TV? The authors of this article outline the American Academy of Pediatrics' guidelines on children's media use and summarize related research to help parents understand the effects of screen time and limit children's media use. http://galvestondailynews.com/story/187958