Monthly Archives: May 2011

Tweens and Age Compression: Where are the Ethics in Marketing?

Posted on May 30, 2011 by

In this article, the author talks about age compression and how children who are 7 years old are now interested in clothes, make-up and hairstyles in a way that used to be reserved for 17 year olds. In this article … Continue reading →

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“Influencing with Integrity”: Kind Campaign & Monster High

Posted on May 28, 2011 by

How does a grass roots movement for Kindness maintain its integrity when partnering with a corporate giant? In this interview with Jess Weiner, the founders of the Kind Campaign discuss this issue, the plans for the partnership, and the challenges of making their visions a reality. Continue reading →

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Bringing Sexy Down: Age Compression & Sexuality

Posted on May 27, 2011 by

The term “age compression” has been used to describe the way that clothing, products, and experiential expectations have been shifting downward in the age bracket. Clothes that we used to expect to see on a 15 year old, we now … Continue reading →

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Monster High: Coming Soon to a School Near You?

Posted on May 23, 2011 by

In my post Targeting Childhood: Children as Consumers I talk about how much money is spent annually by companies to promote their products to children ($17 billion) and the reasons why it’s problematic for marketers to target young children.  One … Continue reading →

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Does Monster High Teach Kindness?

Posted on May 20, 2011 by

It was recently announced that Mattel’s Monster High is teaming with the Kind Campaign, whose mission is stated on their website as “a movement and documentary, based upon the powerful belief in KINDness, that brings awareness and healing to the … Continue reading →

Posted in For Teens and Tweens, Recognizing, Talking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

Stick it to ‘em! Fun Ideas for Kids as Consumer Activists

Posted on May 18, 2011 by

Today I want to share another creative and active way to get our message that we don’t want our kids sexualized across to marketers, store managers, and corporate leaders. This is an activity that involves making a public statement about … Continue reading →

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Fun Activity for Kids: What are Skechers Shape Ups Really Selling?

Posted on May 16, 2011 by

There has been a big brouhaha in the past couple of weeks over Skechers marketing Shape Ups to young girls. In response to a petition being circulated through change.org calling on Skechers to discontinue marketing these shoes to children, the … Continue reading →

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Part 1-Fun Strategies For Kids: Deconstructing Advertisements

Posted on May 13, 2011 by

In this recent blog post, Marina Del Vecchio shares a few advertisements that are the direct opposite of those that we’ve been seeing from Candie’s. Whereas Candie’s ads are all about depicting young females as sexy and focusing on their … Continue reading →

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Standing up for Children: Hardy Girls Healthy Women

Posted on May 11, 2011 by

Several recent research studies have confirmed the fact that our children are being bombarded with sexualized and gendered messages. A recent study (McCabe, Fairchild, Grauerholz, Pescosolido, & Tope, 2011) examined the representation of males and females in children’s books across … Continue reading →

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Positive Activism: Make an Ad to Make a Point to Candies

Posted on May 9, 2011 by

I told you about this creative activism campaign and the companies involved in previous posts. The Candie’s ad campaign contest ends today, so please go online and make an ad spoofing their sexy messages to young girls. This one references … Continue reading →

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