Sunday, July 18, 2010

Consuming Kids

If you are at home, sit down and watch this after you've put the kids to bed, or gotten great take-out, or finished spackling, or made some tea, or whatever you do at the end of your day.  Give it your attention, I think it is that worth it.

If you're local, and want more, I'm setting up a screening at the library in the coming weeks.
If you're not local, and want more, you can watch the rest on youtube, or see if your library has it.  (No, it's not on Netflix.)

It is about 5 minutes, so brace yourself for this very long chunk of time in internet world!  5 minutes!  I can't give it back to you if it stinks, but, at least you know it was well-intentioned.

Finally, I recommend maximizing the screen (click arrows in lower right corner) for best viewing quality.
Oh, you already knew that?  Well, aren't you smart.  


9 comments:

  1. Hi Mary,

    I've read through your blog a number of times and I'm surprised by how much it speaks to me because I don't have children! But I can see a lot of my younger self in Miss C and I can see a lot of my older self in you!! I admire your determination and your insight.

    I wanted to let you know that the clip you posted is the beginning 9 minutes of a much longer video --- one that I've watched from start to finish right now in the middle of my work day. Once the 9 minutes is finished there should be an option to watch 2/7, then 3/7 etc etc. It continues to explore marketing for teens, tweens, toddlers and infants. Part 5 of seven is particularly interesting as it examines the differences in marketing for gender.

    Thank you so much for posting this! I'm learning and thinking so much. I hope to get my thoughts surrounding the video out on my own blog. I'll leave another comment if/when it ever gets up.

    Thank you again!

    K

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  2. Annnnd rereading your post I just noticed that you do mention that the film is longer. Please forgive me -- I haven't had my coffee yet :)

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  3. Will try to be there at the screening (when is it?)

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  4. K- no worries, I understand comments before coffee. Glad you got hooked, it's fascinating, isn't it?

    This life--no date is set yet. I will let you know when it is!

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  5. Mary, thanks for the shout-out! I hope everything goes well at your screening. You probably know this, but our friends at the CCFC have created a host of facts sheets that go great with the film and we've created a discussion guide which you might find helpful in leading a discussion after the screening.

    Thanks!

    Alex Peterson
    Marketing Coordinator
    Media Education Foundation

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  6. Watching these is fascinating, and they do bring up some excellent points.

    They get into obesity - which is complicated issue - and suggest that advertising is one of the roots. That was a new one for me, and something to think about.

    This feels like the launching point for an investigation starting with a straightforward primer. I do like that there are fact sheets and discussion guides to go with this.

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  7. I finally got around to watching some of this. I watched the first two installments but I'm not sure if it's telling us anything we didn't already know...

    Obviously advertisers will do whatever they can get away with, but ultimately it's up to parents whether they give their kids money or buy them particular things or let them watch hours of commercial television.

    I grew up very sheltered and still managed to get obsessed with Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (no princesses for me!) so I shudder to think how saturated the average American kid is. And I'm very sympathetic to parents under pressure of pester power but I think they are the ones who need to draw the line. The kids clearly aren't able to!

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  8. rivqa---I've been meaning to write about parental responsibility, so thank you for getting the ball rolling! I responded in a post for 23 July.
    I encourage you to watch the final 7 minutes of Consuming Kids, and let me know your thoughts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buHcUqoFcGs

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  9. Hi...

    Maybe there an interest to share with the children:

    I just made the big Coca Cola experiment with a tooth !
    If you want to see, take a look here:
    http://anagycoca-colakiserlet.blogspot.com/#e

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