THESE ARE MUST-READS!!! get this woman to our little board!

[PretzelWarrior]

I scanned a USA Today laying around work today..and read a brief review about a book about BRANDING the young in America. Marketing for brand loyalty in the preschool years.

Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture
By Juliet Schor; Scribner, $25; in stores
A Boston College economist, Schor examines how children and their parents are now perceived as the most tempting of markets by advertisers. According to Schor, $15 billion is spent annually on ads and marketing to children. Using original data collected from 300 children in the Boston area, Schor presents a disturbing picture of how children's sense of self is diminished by this barrage of ads. They begin to believe they are what they own.

A couple of other books by her that I plan to check out....

The Overspent American

The Overworked American

http://www.simpleliving.net/

I think we can make our message grow if we each have little free seminars in our local areas and enlist still others to spread the word.

I'm excited.

[Lorien]

1. I hope I can find some used copies

I know of a few parents that I'd love to send that to!

I heard on Bill Moyers that American Children are exposed to many times more advertising than the children of ANY other country. Almost every nation has strict limits to ad time directed at kids on television, but America has no such laws. No wonder our kids are so shell shocked with our "you are what you own" culture! It goes against childhood itself; exploring, sports, sunshine,creativity, nature...you hardly see kids outdoors anymore. :-(

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. My brother and his wife need a copy

I babysat my nephews (ages 12 and 9) a while ago, and I was amazed at how much STUFF they had, including a basement full of stuff that was gathering dust.

Of course, I'm not blameless when it comes to acquisitions. I had to quit BMG Music Service because I was buying CDs that I didn't have time to listen to.