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The Commercialization of Childhood

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Anthony May in business, economy
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Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car. Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children's advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform American children into one of the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in the world. Consuming Kids pushes back against the wholesale commercialization of childhood, raising urgent questions about the ethics of children's marketing and its impact on the health and well-being of kids.

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Rating: 4.8/5 (15 votes cast)

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posted on December 15, 2009, 04:59:09 PM
comment #2886
Jo

I suggested this to someone even before I finished watching, and now that I have I truly wish I had refrained till I had completed this.
Some aspects of this are worth noting as they have founding, but due to its somewhat limited scope and somewhat directed approuch, it fails to achieve what I had hoped it would.

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posted on October 28, 2009, 10:56:18 PM
comment #2108
TML13

Disney is refunding money in Canada to parents who bought Baby Einstein DVDs, because there is enough "evidence" that they don't do anything. Canada i still pretty bad with commercilization though. Parts of Europe are not like that, but certainly are moving towards it only because commercialization=wealth. Everyone wants wealth :)

I would've liked the documentary to have discussed this subject from a global perspective through.

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posted on October 25, 2009, 10:06:00 AM
comment #2063
spacebunny

Commercialization is my greatest pet-peeeve. As an adult, I can rationalize myself out of making trips to the store, I don't own a tv anymore, and I shun brand names. If I were still a child, there'd be no hope. This doc discourages me from having children. I'd rather be free and independent than bogged down with a diabetic tv addicted zombie child.

Don't fall for the 'positive' media cr@p parents: Baby Einstein, etc. It's just another brandname. When I was a kid in the 1990s I never had an allowance, toys were at a minimum, but I watched too much tv. The most fun I ever had was playing outside. Looking back, I feel too much of my youth was wasted in front of the tv.

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posted on October 25, 2009, 08:00:38 AM
comment #2061
Jack Kebek

The worse "legal crime" ever committed in America --in my own humble opinion.

To all Christians, this is certainly "The Devil" in full swing, poisoning every born-free kid, making them his allies... or slaves. Do something really important - and in accordance with the Bible : save the children!!!

To everyone : You don't need to be of any faith to come to the conclusion that greed is evil.
Perhaps you all should flood every American politician emailing them the link to this video, urge them to watch it and beg for regulations in the name of social sanity... and perhaps also, mine!

You're in need of severe regulations to protect your youth (and country) from such senselessness, fed by greed, not FREEDOM!
Freedom CAN'T BE about enslaving kids. "Mind control" because this is what it is, can't be ethical, nor democratic, in any way.

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posted on October 25, 2009, 03:02:22 AM
comment #2060
dane

i found this doc to be rather boring, repedative and not really strong in info. i have seen a couple hundred docs on here. this is one of the few i stoped watching before it ended (about 10 mins left to the end i had enough)

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posted on October 24, 2009, 06:56:46 PM
comment #2051
allisson

Yeah, this is a great documentary. I a m a young mom, only 21 years old so i personally have seen the child ads go up and through my life. And let me tell you, if my child did the Nagging-can we go there? can we go there? i would see to it he was disciplined in a propper manner. Also, he knows better then to even ask more then once in grocery stores and other stores for things. Hes 4 and has yet to throw a temper tantrum over some useless piece of plastic. I also dont do that-if your good in the store, mommy will buy you a gift everytime. Instead, he has to earn his very small allowance for a week and then, if he has truly been picking up his room, minding his manners then he gets a book, or somthing that wont be broken on his floor in 2 days. He doesnt get money, he gets points. Children really dont need money. Unless your going with them when they spend it, come on we have to teach our kids young how to be frugal in this economy. The marketing in Disney is really bad if you ask me. THink about it, they are everywhere and joined up as partners with everyone. Food, clothing, musicians etc.

I was told growing up that i was part of generation X. Well, i want to see this generation pass and the next and compare. I feel like we are only going further down that road. And its not just the marketing snakes we can blame, its also your selves as a parent. We all have at some point caved in to somthing for our kids that we knew they didnt need, or we couldnt afford but we just wanted them to be happy. Well, idk. Im rambling. But this was great. I reccommend it to anyone, child, parent, grand parent you name it.

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posted on October 24, 2009, 10:26:56 AM
comment #2039
Bendik

This video opened my eyes. Good documentary. Every parent should watch this.

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