babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Movies and Advertising to Kids at School
Director Morgan Spurlock turns his attention to advertising in movies ... and schools.
Morgan Spurlock’s latest movie premiered at Sundance this week, and it has gotten quite a bit of buzz. The “Super Size Me” director, famous for eating at McDonald’s three times a day for a month, turns his camera on the movie industry and its growing reliance on product placement to get movies made.
Spurlock admits it was a stroke of genius to not only expose the practice of product placement but to also use it to finance “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.” He got 15 companies to pony up $1.5 million dollars. In exchange — it gets kind of meta here — he enables them to market their products and integrate brands into the film about corporate marketing, product placement and brand integration.
But what really makes “The Greatest Movie Ever Told” a must-see is Spurlock’s attention to advertising to kids.
I haven’t seen the movie — I don’t know if he takes on Happy Meal toys. But, according to Reuters, the funny movie strikes a serious note when his film about movies and advertising goes after corporations selling out kids as a way of paying for schools. Public schools.
From Reuters:
“What will really take people back is the way advertising is starting to infiltrate the education system,” Spurlock said. “To make ends meet they are starting to sell advertising in schools…they are marketing to your kids in a classroom.”
Advertising to children is largely unregulated. Public schools all across the country are sorely underfunded. The second-largest school district in the nation — the Los Angeles Unified School District — recently agreed to look into allowing more advertising and selling naming rights in its various schools.
Maybe a movie like Spurlock’s will shine a light on these practices, I don’t know. I wonder if he’ll revisit his old stomping grounds, McDonald’s, and take a look at the Happy Meal toy bans starting to happen there.
Photo: paste.com
Go Back To Strollerderby
0 Comments
Anna commented on Jan 31 11 at 11:02 amthere is a fantastic non-profit that has been taking on the worst offenders of advertising to kids and especially advertising to kids in schools – http://www.campaignforacommercialfreechildhood.com they are also on twitter at @commercialfree
i am shocked by what is going on in schools – lysol homework sheets, sunny-d parties, the list goes on.
personally, i think schools – especially public schools – should be commercial-free zones.
Anna commented on Jan 31 11 at 11:09 amhere is a good article by Michele Simon (@appetite4profit on twitter) that discusses the legality of advertising to children under 8 (it’s not legal, but difficult to prosecute)
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-01-24-why-the-happy-meal-is-a-crime-and-not-just-a-culinary-one
article has close to 150 comments – more proof it’s definitely worth a read!
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0