CONSUMERISM:

EARTH DAY AND MARKETING:

Earth Day is coming tomorrow, whoop de ding dong. Most good ideas are subject to the law of inevitable chintz, and the whole hoopla around Earth Day may indeed be the primary modern example (though I am sure that there are many close competitors). What exactly is more absurd, the declining portion of leftists who imagine that 'ecology" poses some "fundamental paradigm" for changing society(and their absurd religious apotheoses in our dear "primitivists) for the better or those who buy into the "propaganda model" as promoted by the official sponsors of such events as Earth Day ? Who knows ?

What I do know is that the official promotion of Earth Day by government and corporation has gutted the original concept of any useful meaning. What I did't realise was how far this process had progressed. the story below is from the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, and it questions the idea of the overwhelming corporate sponsorship of Earth Day. What Molly finds most jaw droppingly amazing is the idea almost mentioned in passing ie "Earth Day shopping". Do people actually do this ? That is truly amazing. Holy Jesus H. Christ ! Turn your back for a minute and the kids and the dog are wrecking the house. It is right up their with the anarcho-nonsense spewed across the internet (using the height of technology) to promote some idea of the end of civilization. The difference is that large numbers of people buy the former idea while the latter is confined to an ever diminishing cult. I guess it's the old Biblical adage of the beam in one's own eye.

In any case, if you don't find the idea of "consuming for the ecology" silly then what can I say ? Welcome to Orwell's dystopia.

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MARKETING EARTH DAY(AND OTHER STUFF) TO CHILDREN:
Between Sesame's new green Elmo and Nick's Big Green Help, the children's media and marketing industries are going green in a big way this Earth Day. Or are they? In today's Huffington Post, CCFC's Susan Linn and Josh Golin lay out the harms inherent in the environmental lessons promoted by companies whose profits depend on inculcating consumerism in children.

In the coming year, CCFC will work to make the connections between marketing to children and environmental degradation more explicit. If you have ideas for campaigns that highlight this link, please send them to ccfc@jbcc.harvard.edu.

A link to the article is below. Happy Earth Day!

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Marketing Earth Day (and Other Stuff) to Children
By Susan Linn and Josh Golin
Have you done your Earth Day shopping yet? Between greeting cards, jewelry, mugs, and teddy bears commemorating the day, its roots in environmental activism have all but been forgotten. Now corporations use Earth Day to sell us on the belief that we can buy our way into ecological sustainability. We can't.

Reducing consumption is essential to preserving the earth's resources and preventing its degradation. The same companies that are painting themselves green depend on the profits they earn convincing us to buy more than we need.

Nowhere is this more obvious, and more troubling, than in the world of children's media and marketing, where companies like Disney, Sesame Workshop, and Nickelodeon are eco-marketing as never before.

Read the rest at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-linn/marketing-earth-day-and-o_b_189466.html

CONSUMERISM:

MCDONALD'S BACKS DOWN FROM ADVERTISING IN CHILDREN'S REPORT CARDS:

As reported some time ago here at Molly's Blog the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood initiated an international campaign against the "trial balloon" of McDonald's offering a free Happy Meal to children in Seminole County, Florida who got good grades on their report cards. The international fast food giant has been forced to back down, and this fact has been broadcast in international news media. The initial question may have seemed small. The first images that come to Molly's mind when hearing the phrase "Seminole County" are Pogo and L'il Abner. Yet this is the way that corporations such as McDonald's operate. Try a few test cases first. If they fly then suddenly continents are covered with the same thing. The fact that small local struggles such as these are important can be seen by the fact that their victory gets international coverage. One has to admit that many people, Molly amongst them, derive a certain amount of glee from seeing Ronnie get a boot in the butt. Keep on kicking. See the website highlighted above for more of the actions of the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood.

CONSUMERISM:
TELL WEBKITZ TO STOP ONLINE ADVERTISING:
Webkitz, the most visited virtual world for children in the United States, has quietly begun targeting its users with outside advertising. The site is already commercial- children must buy a Webkitz toy that comes with a special code. But apparently using the site to sell millions of Webkitz stuffed animals wasn't enough for Ganz (the makers of Webkitz), and now they're selling their young users to advertisers. To make matters worse, Ganz didn't bother to inform parents, many of whom purchase Webkitz toys for their children expecting that the website will be free of outside advertising and links. By opening the site to advertisers, Ganz is choosing to maximize profits at the expense of parents' trust and children's' well being.

The 'Parents' Area' of Webkitz does not mention that the site now includes advertising. Webkitz is currently marketing the film Alvin and the Chipmunks. In addition to banner ads, the site is encouraging young users to actively engage with the movie by purchasing specially designed chipmunk costumes and food for their virtual pets. Bee Movie -a film that partnered with McDonald's , General Mills and Brachs', and has dozens of licensed products-was promoted in a similar way.

As children spend more and more time on the web., they are increasingly targeted by internet marketing. Webkitz's decision to take outside ads is reminiscent of Neopets, another popular online destination for children which went from being ad-free to including product placement on their site for McDonald's and other brands as well as launching their own line of cereal. the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood is launching a media campaign (including a story in the New York Times) to inform parents about advertising on Webkitz and to convince Gatz to end it. To read more and to join this campaign go to the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood website.

CONSUMERISM:

MCDONALD'S IS TAKING IN-SCHOOL MARKETING TO A NEW LOW:

FROM THE CAMPAIGN FOR A COMMERCIAL-FREE CHILDHOOD:

Last week, students in Seminole County, Florida received their report cards in envelopes adorned with Ronald McDonald promising a free Happy meal to students in kindergarten through fifth grade with good grades, behavior or attendance. Targeting children directly with the message that doing well in school should be rewarded by a Happy meal undermines parents' efforts to encourage healthy eating. And if parents want to reward their kids' school performance, they are intelligent enough to determine what kind of reward, if any, is appropriate.

TELL McDONALDS' : STOP ADVERTISING ON REPORT CARDS:

The promotion highlights McDonald's duplicity when it comes to marketing to children. McDonald's has pledged to stop all advertising in elementary schools. When questioned about the report cards, a McDonald's spokesperson claimed the promotion isn't marketing. If that's what McDonald's believes, their pledge isn't worth the paper it is printed on.

McDonald's has also received kudos for its pledge to only advertise its healthier options to children under twelve. Yet the Happy meal promotion explicitly mentions cheeseburgers, French fries and soft drinks. Happy Meals featured on the report card can contain as many as 710 calories, 28 grams of fat or 35 grams of sugar.

On Wednesday, we were alerted to the promotion by an Orlando-area parent. Within 24 hours, our concerns about the report cards ignited a nation-wide controversy, including stories in the New York Times, the associated Press and a front page story in Orlando. Now we need your help to put an end to this outrageous advertising.

To join this campaign against McDonald's advertising to a captive audience of children see the website of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

CHRISTMAS HUMOUR:

WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY ?

NOT IN CANADA-EH.PITY:

The good folks at the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood and the Church of Stop Shopping (with Reverend Billy) have outdone themselves in parody this year with the new film What Would Jesus Buy ? . This surrealistic look at the Christmas shopping cult is now showing in theatres across the USA in the month of December. Follow Reverend Billy and his choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse . As the CCFC says, "What Would Jesus Buy is funny, provocative and inspiring...a journey into the heart of America-from exorcising demons at the Wal-mart headquarters to taking over the center stage at the Mall of America and ultimately heading to the Promised Land-Disneyland." Will Reverend Billy save America from the evil designs of the Satanic Cult of Consumption ? Is the numerological solution of George Bush Junior's name the number 666 ? See the movie to find out. Unfortunately not to be shown in Canada, but downloadable from the website (see above). A great counterpoint to A Christmas Carol for your holiday viewing. Look to the movie website for places and times of showing this month, and further details. Look to Molly's Blog in days to come for some of the great carol spoofs.