This is a powerful documentary every parent should watch. Even better, watch it with your kids and then have a conversation about it (like my friend, Rebecca, did as part of her homeschooling instruction).
Some quotes that jumped out at me:
“It’s about people wanting to convince our children that life is about buying; life is about getting.” –Enola Aird, J.D.
“The philosophy becomes cradle to grave. Let’s get to them early; let’s get to them often; let’s get to them as many places as we can get them – not to just sell them products and services, but to turn them into life-long consumers.”
“Marketers know these are little sponges – they’re so wide open – they want to get that brand loyalty for life. ‘Cause that’s big bucks.” –Betsy Taylor, Center for a New American Dream
What watching this video will do:
- make you better aware of the world your kids are living in
- make you think twice about the commercials your children are exposed to everyday
- give you an even bigger reason for turning off the television
- if your kids watch it, they’ll be in on the “scam,” too, and will understand why you’re turning off the TV or unplugging the computer
- cause you to feel less guilty about not giving into the nagging of your kids to buy something in particular
It’s an hour long, so make sure you have some free time available.
Did you watch it? What are your thoughts? (If your kids saw it, please share their reactions as well.)
{ 22 comments }
so glad you shared this
This made me sick, angry and motivated. They are really using targeted advertising on school bus radios now? My kids are too little to watch this and have any opinions, but I definitely want them to know what they’re up against when they get older. The marketing to kids is completely out of control. I almost felt like throwing up watching it. Like one of the psychologists said, it’s creepy.
Everything is very open with a clear description of the issues.
It was definitely informative. Your website is very useful.
Thanks for sharing!
Boy Melanie, You sure know how to pick topics that get me all riled up! Ha!
Although I agree that movie rating standards are a joke and the commercial bombardment of stuff on our children can be overwhelming, I don’t blame the marketers. Currently, parents have the authority to turn the channel, if not turn it off completely. We also hold the purse strings when it comes to buying ANY “stuff”. I found it curious that parental or even personal responsibility was not mentioned in the film!
When the one guy equated strategic marketers to Pedophiles, my BS meter beeped so loud I had to dig a little deeper on this group. The people that put this film out want GOVERNMENT to step in and decide what’s appropriate for our children. The irony is they are playing on parents fears, desires,and emotions just like the companies they say are manipulating our children! Many of the tv and movie clips were taken out of context. If you were to watch the entire show, you would find that the “mememe, give me give me” characters are likely to be the “bad” guy. They aren’t putting this behavior on a pedestal to immolate but as an example of how not to behave.
All that focus group research had to be signed off by a parent. I wonder what parent would let a group of marketers watch their children take a bath. I’d like to see the evidence backing up their claims. I was left feeling like I wasn’t getting the whole story. Bits and pieces were picked that support their cause without care for truth in context. I’ve become more leery of these types of organizations wanting to control our day to day lives with nanny state regulations. A worthy cause is often the mask for the true agenda.
I must say that I’d much rather see a “My Little Pony eating fries out of the McD’s trough” commercial rather than the Viagara or extenze commercials that have started appearing earlier and in more family oriented shows lately!
Oh yeah, my kids said that the movie made kids look like they weren’t smart enough to figure out what’s going on. “The advertising might get us to take interest in their product but if it’s boring, tastes bad, or isn’t our style, I’m not spending my $$ on it.” (my money, as in birthday, Christmas, and babysitting)
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I was sent here from the Wikipedia website.
I planned to review your article
We’ve discussed this issue plenty on Jimmy’s blog 🙂
Give me please you contact email
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Incredible points. Solid arguments. Keep up the good spirit.
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Very energetic blog, I liked that a lot. Will there be a part 2?
Incredible story there. What happened after? Take care!
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